Shut Up and Let Me Go
by Monkey Ruler
Summary: Jennifer Lucille Warren is socially inept, hates the world, and hates herself. And yet she can't seem to kill herself, no matter how hard she tries. ReidxOC with bits of TylerxOC
1. Shampoo Suicide

**Excerpt from the diary of Jennifer Lucille Warren. Undated.**

Suicide Attempt #1

Horrid. Apparently an overdose of unlabeled motion sick pills sent over from your loving aunt do nothing other than give you a very bad stomach ache and fainting spells. Am now labeled weak along with skanky. Peachy.

[note]

Found out they were ginger pills, apparently. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone who's died from it yet.

Breath stinks.

Suicide Attempt #2

Highly uneventful. Snuck to the top of the roof, got caught by the janitor (who was smoking skunk-smelling cigarettes, also known as weed) and we both agreed to look the other way. He thought that I was up there to smoke too, and offered me a joint.

Also found out I'm afraid of heights. Or imagining the splatter noise and awkwardly placed broken limbs. Either way, jumping will not be the cause of my death.

Also found out that the janitor is pretty fun to hang around. Very well-read.

And that I am extremely pathetic.

Suicide Attempt #3

Attempted slicing my wrist, but could only bare to make a scratch on the surface. Am squeamish when it comes to imagining pain, apparently. Maybe water will help. Water is calming.

* * *

For the first time in his life, Reid Garwin hated communal showers.

It was fun for the most part; a little black flash of his eyes and he could see through the walls to what he commonly referred to as heaven. But when he just wanted to take a quick shower, nothing special, he really missed the private baths that his own home could offer him.

But when he not only has to shower off the humiliation of his situation (spilt beer and broken glass) while hoping that no one particularly rat-like sees him and rats him out to the dean, but deal with said humiliation (being kicked out of Nicky's when he just wanted to get drunk off his ass) he sees some crazy chick who took a wrong turn and ended up on the boy's side being pelted with water, a razor in her hand, and _still in her uniform_. She could at least be naked.

And she's decided to graffiti the wall behind her, too.

'Fuck you all,' The wall says in an electric green.

He reads it aloud. The potential of humiliation being directed towards someone other than him tonight was overwhelming, and pays no mind to the shocked girl staring at him and shaking.

"All of you and your vapid, selfish popularity contests disgust me." He continues, noting that even though it was a suicide letter, the girl had flawless penmanship, "Your bitchy socially aggressive cutthroat behavior sickens me, and I would rather die than spend another day choking on the scent of all your gaudy whorish perfume." He laughs, appreciating the humorous insults regardless if that was the intention, before continuing on.

"And for you men. You stupid, stupid men. I hope you're pretty fucking pleased with yourselves. A notch on your bedpost is now dead, pining away after you! All you nameless, insignificant men must view this as a big fucking ego boost.

"Fuck you and fuck this life." He snorts.

"Who the hell are you!" The girl is shaking out of _rage_, apparently, and she throws the marker responsible for the suicide letter at him. He catches it with an ease that further infuriates her.

She takes a deep breath and her expression morphs into one of disdain rather than panic. She toys with the razor in her hand casually, her fingers dragging along the edge yet not cutting her. He's a little curious about her.

"Oh, I know who you are. You're one of the sons of Dipsticks."

He breathes a little laugh. He was expecting someone meek at first glance. But she's glaring at him, still toying with that razor as if at any second she would lunge at him with it, and he's more curious than before. There weren't that many psychos in this school worth noticing.

"It's Ipswich, actually. Nice to know you're as cultured as you are cheerful."

"Fuck you." She sneers.

"Ooh, feisty!"

"Shouldn't you be at the celebratory bonfire with all the brain dead girls flocking to you after your big win?"

He doesn't bother telling her the truth. That instead of the bonfire, he went to Nicky's, took some beer from the back (after leaving a wad of cash in compensation) and got thoroughly drunk, starting a drunken fight and getting kicked out.

The truth isn't as fun.

"Nah, I thought I'd stay here and kill myself. Hey, mind letting me use that razor after you're done with it? You don't have AIDS, do you? Guess it won't matter, though."

"Fuck you!"

"If it'll make you feel better. Really, you have to work on those insults. Is that your catchphrase or something? Maybe that's why you're about to kill yourself. All those whores and stupid men got you verbally trumped."

"You..." She laughs bitterly, "Know nothing about me."

"I bet." He laughs, much more lighthearted than her, "I bet you don't care at all about the people you spent the majority of your suicide rant complaining about. And that you aren't just filled with a big fucking bag of angst, right? What's your story. Your momma didn't hug you enough as a kid? Did the girls pull your pigtails a bit? I bet the guys never called back, did they."

"You are really getting on my nerves." She hisses, and throws the razor to her side in anger. She's too pissed off at him to kill herself tonight.

He half expected her to throw the razor at _him._

"Aren't you going to use that? Pussy."

"What the hell is your problem? No one fucking asked your fucking opinion on any of this, so why don't you just back the fuck off!"

"Well _fuck_ me!" He laughs again.

"Is there any real point to this?"

He pretends to think for a second. It's been awhile since he's teased somebody like this. Who knew it would be some suicidal chick in the boy's shower stalls.

"Not really, no."

"Then fuck this."

She stalks away, pushing past him and not caring at all that her clothes were sopping wet. Can't get a moment of privacy. It was disgusting.

He finally takes his shower, humming a little tune under his breath.


	2. I'm Not Your Boyfriend Baby

**Excerpt from the diary of Jennifer Lucille Warren. Undated.**

Suicide Attempt #4

Epic disaster. Dipstick fucker ruined everything. Acted like a complete jackass.

Maybe I should make it into a murder-suicide.

* * *

Lunchtime was a beautiful period of the day. No learning, expensive food, and friends to tease. And Reid found it even more beautiful when that crazy chick was spotted from afar, a tray of food in hand that he was just dying to overturn.

Nah, best not to reduce her to tears when she's so far away.

"Hey," Reid asks, nudging Baby Boy in the ribs a little harder than he'd intended, not caring that he made Tyler choke a little bit on his food in the process. He was probably fine.

"What?" Tyler coughs, washing down his meal with water.

"Who's that freak?" He nodded towards the girl from yesterday, noticing that she still looked as much of a loser as she did when she was crying fully clothed under the shower. Black hair, thick black rings around her creepy bright eyes, and an empty space around her at all times. She was untouchable, just like the brothers were.

But they were a hell of a lot cooler, of course.

"_She_ is Jennifer Warren. She's a scholarship from some public down state; she transferred a few months before Sarah." Tyler rolled his eyes, "And she's not a freak at all. She's one of the smartest girls in our school."

Reid snorted.

"Seems pretty stupid to me." And too angsty to pay attention in class. Probably writes poetry about death or something.

"Looks can be deceiving, Garwin." Kate laughed, "She looks pretty innocent too, right? But I heard she slept with half the school her second month here. I'm surprised you, of all people, haven't heard of her."

"Hey, I take offense to that." Bitch.

"But get this-not only did she sleep with half the school, but also her best friend's _boyfriend_." Her voice dropped to a whisper, as if just saying it was scandalous.

"You're joking," Sarah gushed, "She looks so sweet. A bit dark, yeah, but in that cute harmless way."

Jennifer walked over to an empty table, reserved all for her, and started to eat.

God, just looking at her was depressing.

"C'mon, Tyler."

"C'mon Tyler what?" Tyler asked expectantly, even though he had a slight idea what Reid was planning, "I'm not a mind reader."

But they had known each other all their lives.

"Let's cheer the promiscuous little vixen up."

* * *

It's lunch and she's being shunned.

Of course.

People didn't have sex with their "best" friend's boyfriends and not get labeled a skank. And then thoroughly shunned.

But she did not care. No, killing herself would be too satisfying for them. She would not care, graduate happy and misanthropic, and then grow up successful without having to marry rich. She'd come back at the reunion and have all of them lick her shoes.

So there.

But of course, her life couldn't be that simple. Reid Garwin and Tyler Simms deemed her table worthy enough to sit down at, completely ignoring their Dipstick friends and their own sacred table. Tyler gave her a confused little smile, as if he didn't know why they were there exactly, but Reid smirked at her.

"Mr. Simms." She says politely, not bothering to greet the dickiest of the Dipsticks.

"Hey. You're in my Physics class, right?" He asks with the charming grin half the school fell for head over heels. Her included, but that didn't mean she had to show it.

She nodded with a small smile and gave Reid a glare before Tyler could start a conversation about their class. Some useless talk about how hard their teacher was, the endless amounts of homework he saw fit to pile on top of them, and God, wasn't the TA such a bastard?

"What are you doing here, Garwin?" She asks harshly.

"So I guess you haven't cooled down since last night."

"Damn, Reid," Tyler laughs, "What did you do?" Which translated as, 'So that's why you were so interested in her earlier.'

"Saved her goddamn life, baby boy." Reid defends with an arrogant smirk, "And now she's pissed off at me because of it."

"Right, of course." Tyler shakes his head.

"What!" Reid laughs, "I did! Do you want to hear the details?"

She stabbed her knife into his vegetables, an inch away from where his spoon was innocently scooping some peas. Not that he'd eat the peas. He hates them, along with most vegetables.

"Shut the fuck up." She hisses, "If you're just here to bug the hell out of me, then leave, okay?" She rolls her eyes, "I mean, no wonder you're a player. No girl can stand you long enough to stay, can they?"

He gives her a considering look.

"So I hear you're a transfer, like Caleb's girl. Came a few months before her, actually."

"How do you even know my name?" She asked, uneasy.

"I know some people." He shrugs, "How come we've never met before? I mean, you're more of a slut than Kira, right? So I hear."

"Reid!" Tyler hisses, elbowing him.

"I never met a chick with silver eyes before," Reid continues conversationally, "Are you some type of beastie in disguise? Vampire, maybe?"

"Yes. I twinkle gayly in the sunlight, and in the dark go on about how lonely and dangerous a creature I am to seduce young, vulnerable womenfolk." She says, resisting the urge to impale Reid with her fork as Tyler laughed.

They were contacts. She'd figure that if she were going to a fancy Catholic private school, she might as well make everyone think she were some type of freak. And silver eyes were very freakish.

That's why she dyed her hair black, too, wore dark accessories, got that fake ID which enabled her to get that triquetra tattoo on her shoulder, pierced her ears multiple times along with her navel, got those surface piercings at her hips and had a small little stud in between her pointer finger and thumb that hurt like a _bitch_.

Well, that was a small reason why. She also thought they looked wicked cool and she managed to look like an introverted freak when she had black hair.

"No wonder you're more of a whore than Kira. She just goes after the men."

"Listen," She says in the 'this is your last warning' voice she had perfected over the years, "I don't even fucking _know_ you,"

"Of course you do. I'm a son of a Dipstick." He laughed as if it were more amusing than insulting. Tyler choked on his drink, wondering if nice looking Jennifer Warren had really said that about them or if Reid was just insulting them like usual. Then again, she was unexpectedly rude to Reid.

Everyone was rude to Reid, though.

"I meant _know _you. As in we hadn't even had something resembling a conversation until last night, and my impression of you has not improved in the slightest. In fact, it's dropped significantly, so will you excuse me while I leave and never talk to you again in my life!"

She slams her hands on the table and stands up.

"Actually, I do mind."

"I'm not some laugh you can access at any time. That time was an accident that's never going to be repeated in your presence."

"I know. Because you, Jennifer Warren, are going to be my girlfriend, till death do us part."

"What!" Tyler exclaims.

Her thoughts exactly.

She drops back into her seat.

"And why would I do that?" She asks quietly, clenching the fork in her fist so hard she would probably break something. Like his stupid face.

"Well, I didn't tell anyone about last night because of what a nice guy I am and all," She snorts, "But if I were to let it slip to, say, the principal? I shudder to think what would happen to you. You'd hardly be able to have a moment to yourself! And that scholarship you have, well, when's it coming up for review? I'd hate to see what the big guys would think about poor little Jenny Warren trying to-"

"Shut up." She interrupts, "People are calling me the school whore. Why would I lower the bar even further by being the school man-whore's bitch?"

"Reid.." Tyler warns. He must be as morally righteous as they say Danvers is. Well, not as. He is Garwin's best friend, after all.

"Because you'd be under the protection of the Dipsticks. I mean, surely you noticed the boost in popularity all the other Dipstick girls are receiving? You'd be worshiped by men, and women would fall over themselves to get in your favor."

"What makes you think I'm interested in that?"

"Who isn't?"

She hated how he acted like she had no choice in the matter.

And she hated how she really didn't.

"Fine." She sighed, before standing up abruptly. "I'm going to the library." She glared at Reid sharply, "Don't follow me."

"As if I wouldn't." Reid laughed, grabbing the rest of his burger and following her.

Tyler watched them go with a frown on his face.

**A note passed from Jennifer Warren to Reid Garwin in the library**

_So how does this work?_  
_ How does what work?_  
_ You being my boyfriend._  
_ Hey, I just said you were my girlfriend. Not the other way around._  
_ What are you getting at? It works both ways._  
_ Not really, no._  
_ You're bullshitting me._  
_ Not really, no._  
_ You are an unbelievable asshole._  
_ Come on, baby, don't be like that._  
_ Like what? Honest?_  
_ Lunches with the group. And afterclass we study in one of our rooms._  
_ That sounds tame considering you're blackmailing me into it._  
_ Study can be loosely translated to you doing all of my homework._  
_ How long is this relationship going to last?_  
_ Till I get bored of you._


	3. Hate Is a Strong Word

Science.

"Hey, Jennifer..."

Jen looked up and saw a smiling Tyler Simms standing over her.

"Is it okay if I sit here?"

The girl studied Tyler, half-expecting Reid to pop up from behind him. Finally she nodded.

"It's Jen." She mutters, and moves her books to make room for his. He smiles at her as if they're sharing a secret now. And they very well might be; everyone else just calls her 'whore', and while admittedly it had a certain ring to it, it never quite rolled off the tongue like Jen.

"Sorry about Reid. I'm sure he wasn't serious about the whole girlfriend thing." He smiled apologetically, and she's a little blown away by how many different smiles he has. No wonder he was a heartthrob, besides the old money and good looks.

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't." She mumbles, shuffling with her notes needlessly so she wouldn't have to focus on the teen idol-worthy smile.

"Reid likes to joke around alot," Tyler explains, as if blackmail was just one big laugh, "He just goes too far sometimes. Don't take him seriously."

She nods.

"But if he gets out of line, tell me, okay?" Tyler's smile drops and she's startled by the intensity in his face. His eyes were so wide and his eyelashes went on forever and he was too _pretty_, dammit.

She nods again. He quieted down, then, and they spent most of the class in silence.

Until Tyler had to break it.

"So where'd you come from? Before you transferred over."

She looked at him incredulously. She knew that he was the typical nice boy, but his conversation starters were a little beyond typical. They were cliche.

"Um, California."

"Wow. Really? Are you near Hollywood?"

"No."

"The beach then, right? I love the beaches there. I went there a few summers ago."

"Nope."

"No the beaches aren't great?"

"No, I didn't live there. I was in the suburbs. Closest tourist spot was the Apples headquarter."

"That's cool."

She gave him a look.

"No. It's not."

"Sure it is. There you can see Steve Jobbs. Unless you think it's cool here, where you can go and see graveyards. And trees."

"With the occasional church every other block." He let out a startled laugh. He didn't know that Jen did humor.

"Ms. Warren, will you come and finish the question on the board? Unless it will inconvenience you too much from your conversation with Mr. Simms."

The class giggled as Jen's face burned with embarrassment. Tyler patted her arm comfortingly and tried not to take offense when she flinched away and rushed to the board.

Reid may have written her off as entertainment, but Tyler thought that she was a little more intriguing than that.

After all, the only goths in Ipswich went to public.

* * *

"Hey, whore, where you going?"

She resisted the urge to flinch and kept walking, ignoring the former best friend. It was such a high school movie cliche. Best-friend-turned-public-tormenter.

"I said where are you going?"

A hand grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"I heard you were talking with Tyler Simms today in class. Moving up the food chain?"

She looked around the crowd of students surrounding them, hoping for some small opening that she could escape through. Nope. Too many people.

"Answer me, whore."

"Why should she?"

Here comes Reid, her unwanted knight in shining armor.

"Reid!" Enter breathlessness and a little hopeful twinkle in her eyes. Jen resisted the urge to puke. She had such self-restraint.

"Turner." Ouch, the last name.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk to my girlfriend. What about you?"

Enter undeniably heavy silence.

"You... You have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I don't share, though. Sorry." Reid slung an arm around Jen's shoulders and she fought hard to keep her face blank, even though she really wanted to cringe and shove him off her.

"You mean-you can't possibly be-how!"

"Why question a good thing?"

"Good! That's not in any way, shape, or form good. Don't you know who she is?" Was she hyperventalating? A little part of Jennifer was giddy at the thought.

"I'm pretty sure that she's Jennifer, my girlfriend. You, however, are in my way. We're heading to Nicky's, right babe?"

She nodded stiffly and the two walked off until they were away from the crowd. Then she shoved his arm off of her as he burst into laughter.

"Man, did you see their faces?" He laughed, "You should've seen _your _face. It was epic. I really thought you were going to punch me."

"Keep talking and I will." She snapped, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave now."

"Hey, didn't you hear me? We're going to Nicky's."

"I don't think so."

"Hey, babe, in case you haven't noticed? I _own _you."

"Fuck you."

"Always welcome to, babe."

"My name isn't _babe!"_

"Oh. Sorry. I meant to say whore."

"You... Are a _douchebag_."

"I thought I was a dipstick?"

"You are everything bad in the world."

"Then kill yourself already."

The two were inches away from each other, Jen glaring up at Reid and him smirking down at her. Mocking her, probably, for being such a coward.

"I hate you."

"Them's fighting words. Now come on, I wanna hustle some money out of Aaron. Unless, of course, I should go to the Dean's office and have a chat?"

"Let's go."


	4. You Don't Know Me

Nicky's. A mixture between a bar and a club, with the old, obese, and hairy mixed in with sweaty, scantily clad students she vaguely recognized from school. It was hot from the crowd, and Jen hoped she wouldn't start sweating. She was still used to dry, sunny weather, not the sticky heat this side of the states called humidity.

"Hey, pussies." Reid greets his friends fondly, sliding into a chair and attempting to steal some fries off of the biker's girl. She slaps his hand and Jen smirks a bit. "Bitch," He mutters angrily, shaking off the sting in his hand.

The biker punches Reid roughly in the arm for the comment and Jen's smirk widens.

The blond offers him some of her fries and Jen's smirk drops.

Reid nods his head towards a seat he pulls up beside him and Jen keeps a straight face as she sits down. Inside, she's grimacing.

"Are you going to introduce us?" Asks the head Ipswich, his arm around the pretty blond. S-something. Jen was never much for remembering names.

"This is Jennifer. Babe, these are the guys."

"So rude, Garwin." Biker chick scolds, "I'm Kate."

"Nice to meet you." Jen mumbles, shaking her hand.

"Sarah." The blond offers, and they shake hands also. Soon she's introduced to the whole bunch and her hand is feeling a little sore from the head Ipswich's strong grip.

Tyler jokingly introduces himself and she cracks a small smile that Sarah finds adorable. If she had that innocent and sweet smile on all the time, no one would ever accuse her of half the things they said she did.

"You are the absolute cutest thing." Sarah exclaims, grinning at Jen and making her uncomfortable.

"Yeah, how did someone like Reid Garwin snag you?" Kate jokes.

"Blackmail." She says simply with a straight face.

It's silent for a moment before Kate starts laughing and the rest of the group join in.

"And the victim has arrived." Reid cackles, punching Tyler in the arm and pointing at the tall brunette that walked into the bar. Aaron, one of the best looking boys in the school that wasn't a Son.

He was also one of the hugest dicks in the school.

"Baby boy. Babe. Lets head over to the pool table, shall we?"

"Do I have a choice?" Jen asks, and Kate starts laughing as if Jen was joking.

"What do you think?" Reid smirks, and the trio leaves for the douchebags of the school, Aaron and Reid smirking at each other with barely concealed hate.

"Why am I not surprised that Reid chose the one girl who had a worse reputation than him and Aaron combined?" Caleb asks, sipping his drink.

"She seems like a nice girl, though." Sarah comments.

"Makes you wonder why she's with Reid." Pogue jokes.

Kate observes the trio at the pool table. Reid was spouting off something and Jennifer's mouth was moving faster than Kate had _ever _seen her talk, frowning and getting a little red in the cheeks. And Tyler was a foot or two away from the both of them with this little smile on his face that all the Ipswich boys wore when they were starting to get smitten, and his eyes right on Jennifer.

"Interesting." She murmurs to herself.

"What's interesting, babe?" Pogue kisses the top of her head and smiles the fully-grown smitten Ipswich smile.

She smiles back at him, just as smitten, and pecks him on the lips.

"Nothing really. Just thinking."

* * *

"So who's is she?" Aaron smirked, leaning against the pool table and staring down at Jen, "Or do you all just share."

Jen gaped. Usually it was Reid that was horribly crass and insensitive, and the fact that a _complete stranger _was implying that she was whoring herself out to the whole of the Ipswich boys-Wait, this wasn't California. She was considered a skank here, and they were never treated with decency.

"Whoa, just because she's not as ugly as yours-"

"Watch your fucking mouth about Kira, you-"

"Hey, hey, guys, cool it. No fighting at Nicky's, remember?" Tyler reminded them, and the two boys backed off from each other, Reid straightening his jacket angrily, "Now, is there going to be a game or not?"

Jen watched the exchange quietly. Even dicks were capable of compassion, she supposed.

"Yeah." Aaron sneered, "Twice the usual."

He slammed a thick wad of bills on the table and Jen's eyes widened when Reid took out his wallet and an equally thick stack of bills was thrown next to it.

"All that money getting you hot?" Aaron leered.

"Don't talk to her unless its with respect." Tyler glared, standing up to his full height. He was still shorter than Aaron, but it was the thought that counted. Jen could just imagine him in shining armor and chainmail.

"And what are you gonna do about it, _baby boy_?" Aaron asked, taking his otherwise endearing nickname and twisting it around into an insult.

"Probably ram all those pool balls up your ass." Reid snickered.

"I don't take anything up the ass, even though I can't say the same for you two."

"Oh, that's so fucking _original _Abbott. As if Kira never got a big strap-on and-"

"Will you two just shut up and play!" Jen snapped, "God, the way you two go on and _on, _just get over yourselves or _fuck _each other already." Tyler choked on his breath before bursting into laughter.

"What!" Aaron exclaimed angrily.

"Baby boy, that shit isn't funny! Where do you get off saying something like that anyway?"

"Keep your whore in line, Garwin. That mouth is going to get her in trouble."

"I am no one's fucking _whore_!" Jen exclaimed, marching up to him angrily, "And I'd appreciate it if you would remember that before you go spouting off like some oldschool pimp as if you even know who the fuck I am, much less assuming that I would just sit back and take it like I can't even fucking _hear you_. I am not deaf nor am I mentally incapable of reacting to insults to my character, and I'd appreciate if you'd remember that."

"You can't honestly believe that you can do all the shit you did and walk around like nothing happened, right?" Aaron said after a moment of silence, looking seriously at her.

"I'm getting pretty sick of everyone walking around condemning my actions as if they even know what the fuck _happened. _I mean-"

"Sally's my cousin."

"Oh."

She's quiet all of a sudden, Tyler's frowning confusedly at the two, and Reid decides that he likes loud, angry Jen a hell of a lot better than soft, shaken Jen.

He snatches up his wad of bills and throws a possessive arm around Jen.

"I think that's enough tension for one day, right?" Tyler says warily as Jen shrugs off Reid's arm.

"Yeah, I'll take your money some other time, Abbott."

"You can try, Garwin."

Jen doesn't wait for Reid's inevitable response. Instead, she books it, heading straight for the exit.

Sally and Aaron were _cousins. _You'd think that with all she bragged about she would have mentioned that little fact.

"Fucking school's worse than a teenage movie." She mumbled to herself, kicking the tire of some beat up old car.

Fuck, that hurt her foot.


	5. Come Together

Reid noticed that even though Jen was tiny as fuck, her legs could move _fast _when she wanted. She was practically sprinting out of Nicky's at the pace she was going at, but she was still walking. In the technical sense, of course. Bitch could speed.

"Whoa, Jen, no one has a gun to your head." Tyler rushed around till he was standing in front of her, practically running to get ahead, and smiled reassuringly, "You can slow down."

"They may not have a gun, but they sure as hell lit a fire under my ass. Garwin, where's your car again?"

"Under the head Dipstick's care." Reid laughed.

"Dipstick...?" Tyler muttered with a frown.

"What? Why?"

"It was his to begin with. We're taking Baby Boy's car back. Pogue and Kate borrowed it for some romantic getaway over the weekend. Didn't you notice our big key exchanges?" Honestly, she was too nervous being in the presence of the most popular students in school to care what he was doing.

"Why don't you have a car?"

"His parents don't trust him with it." Reid punched Tyler in the arm, "What? It's true."

"You're awful high and mighty for someone car-less herself, babe." Reid threw an arm around Tyler's shoulders and leaned in until he was inches away from her face. "How the hell do _you _get around?"

"I don't." She huffs, crossing her arms, "Your public transportation system is severely outdated. It's near impossible to go anywhere unless I reserve hours upon hours of just _walking_."

"Aw, poor baby." Reid mocked, leading the way to Tyler's car.

"Is it _really _that fun for you to piss people off?" She huffs, reluctantly following the two.

"Yes, actually. Yes it is."

Asshole.

* * *

"Hey, Jennifer! Jennifer, hey!"

Her elbow is grabbed and in the big crowded hallway of the school where everyone would just laugh if she got hurt she twists around in a panic, quick to defend herself. She didn't know the taunters had resorted to physical contact.

"Whoa, Jennifer, relax." The voice of the hand gripping her says, sounding as if it's talking to a skittish forest animal.

Ah, biker's lady. Kate. She holds up her hands in mock surrender and let's Jen go free.

"Sorry." She mumbles, glad her elbow's no longer captive.

"It's no biggie. Me and Sarah," She resists the urge to be a grammar nazi, "didn't get to talk to you much last night. So, to get to know you a little better, we wanted to know if you'd join our girl's night. We got all of the brat pack movies set on marathon-mode."

"Really? I thought no one here knew that they made teen movies dating before High School Musical." Although Corbin Bleu _was _a little sexy.

Kate laughs at the enthusiasm, "I think I'm going to like you. We're starting in our dorm at seven. Some of the guys might hang around at first, but they'll probably be gone by the time we get to St. Elmo's Fire."

"Sure. I'll see you then." She walks away quickly before spinning around just as fast. "Um, where's your room?"

Kate laughs again, and Jen isn't _as _embarrassed for her temporary stupidity as she would be otherwise. She even smiles back a little bit.

* * *

So some of the guys meant all of the guys, because of course all the Ipswich boys traveled in packs. Which meant that it was the same dynamic as last night; everyone coupled up and in their corners except for Reid, Tyler, and her. They sat in the center of the room, facing the television, with her sandwiched in between the two with a bowl of popcorn in her lap. She was feeling a little claustrophobic having hot guys on either side of her, _inches away from her_. Because yeah, Reid was an asshole blackmailing her for no reason other than his amusement and she hated his guts, but she was a girl with eyes.

"You're lying." Sarah gushes while she reaches over and grabs some popcorn.

Reid gives her a look that says, 'you know me' and spreads his arms wide in a gesture that has her leaning closer to Tyler just to avoid being hit by his ego.

"Okay, whatever. I know you'd _try _something like that, but you couldn't have pulled it off. You're lying. You have to be."

"I assure you, it's one hundred percent fact."

Jen gives a little eye roll and Tyler nudges her playfully in the arm for it.

"How didn't you guys get caught? I mean, the pool is like fort knox when it's not being used. I refuse to believe you could sneak in much less _set fire to it_."

"Girl, these guys are capable of _anything _once they decide to do it." Kate laughs, "You wouldn't believe some of the things Pogue's done to impress me."

"I don't either." Pogue pulls her closer and they share a kiss that has Reid throwing a pillow at the two in mock disgust.

"Well, I admit that the Ipswich _are _a rare breed of men." Sarah jokes, exchanging flirty eyes with her beau. Was Jen that strange, not filled to the brim with sexual tension and promiscuity all the time? She glanced at Reid and he gave her a leer. Maybe her options were just limited.

"And devoted like hell." Kate gave Pogue another kiss, "Just you wait, Jen, your Ipswich is going to fly over moons and conquer lands for you. They're not made of the same stuff as other men."

Yeah, that'll happen.

"Why thank you, Kate, I didn't know you cared." Reid smirked.

"Although you might've gotten the runt of the litter." She adds on.

Reid puts both his hands up, his middle fingers aimed towards the ceiling and his tongue sticking out like a little kid. Jen agrees with Kate completely.

"It's the Cinderella effect." Sarah interrupts the 'fuck you very much' Reid sends to a laughing Kate.

"What kinda pussy shit are we talking about?" Reid asks bewilderedly.

"That sums it up completely!" Kate gushes, "The pretty pretty princess makeover that being an Ipswich girl entails." Caleb looks at the girls with a puzzled look while Pogue just laughs it off. He's pretty sure that Kate's just joking around.

"I feel like I'm joining a Disney-sponsored country club." Jen mumbles to herself as Tyler muffles his laughter.

"So you all think I'm gonna fairytale her up?"

"It's been the pattern so far." Kate and Pogue have a mushy eye moment and Reid fakes a gag, "You Sons of Ipswich are the Prince Charmings of the school."

"I've certainly been rescued a few times by your shining armor." Sarah and Caleb have an eye moment too.

Gag.

"Can we watch the movie now?" Jen asks timidly.

"Yeah, lets. I mean, what's with all the vagina monologue?" Reid gags again.

"The big two-year-mark is coming up." Tyler explains, nudging Pogue with a foot that he swipes away like a fly buzzing around his head, "Which is getting Kira and Pogue lovey dovey, and Sarah and Caleb are picking up on all the romance and getting all sentimental."

Reid gags again.

"Oh, please." Kate rolls her eyes and throws a pillow at Reid's head, which he barely dodges, "You just don't know how it feels to be in a relationship for more than a week."

"A week and a _half, _thank you." Reid says indignantly. As if those three to four days made all the difference in the world.

Tyler no longer tries to hold back his laughter, and pretty soon the whole group joins in.

She _is _joining a Disney-sponsored country club. She knows this.

She just wishes that she could do something about it.


	6. Wake Up

Oh shit.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

Oh wait. Sleepover. Arm over her neck is sleeping.

Oh shit. _Sleepover_.

Arm over her neck is wiry and male. Possibly hungover. _She's _hungover. Biker boys always have flasks in their biker jackets, apparently. It's to be expected.

She hasn't been socially drunk in awhile. Maybe it was okay to be relaxed around people again? Hell, she already got drunk with them.

There is an arm around her waist that is also male, but a different type. Less wiry and a little softer. Tyler.

Reid has his arm around her neck and is slowly pulling her head in like she's a teddy bear, which is making Tyler snuggle in more, and oh shit.

She's the filling in an oreo cookie.

There are enough people asleep to salvage the situation. She can _do _this. There's an opening in the corner of the room over there; she can sleep in a beanbag chair or something. Oh shit, Golden Boy-Jacob? Caleb. He's awake. And smirking at her, with his beau tucked under his arm like the little princess she is.

"Need help?" He whispers, not moving a muscle to help her. The boys here were _bastards._

She wonders if he can see her blushing in the dim light coming in through the window. What _time _was it? She had to get to the library early if she wanted to get first dibs on the squishy chair. Dammit, she was sure she didn't sound like such a loser when she lived on the west coast. But then again she didn't go to a private school there. Learning was easy.

Utilizing the yoga skills she'd learned in the weakass athletic program she signed up for, she did her morning stretches and escaped at the same time. Well, almost all her morning stretches. Caleb was awake, which meant she wouldn't be doing her whole downward-dog routine.

"Wanna take a walk outside?" He asks, already putting a blanket over his blond and standing up. She looks back to where Tyler and Reid are now spooning and, after the two of them take pictures with their phones, sneak out the room.

"So where did you transfer from?"

"Cheap little public a bit away from the City."

"Really? I thought you were from California."

"Oh, sorry. City was capitalized in my mind. San Fransisco is my preferred home, yeah. Practically lived in the Cal station during the summer."

"I've only been shopping there before. I guess it was my fault for just going with my mother, though. She just brought me along to carry her bags."

"You haven't been partying with the dirty hippies?"

"No, I can't say that I have." He laughs and she wonders why all of the boys in this school look like male models. Her public was ugly as all hell.

"You have to visit then. It's decided. Lovefest you're showing up and we're partying."

"Didn't they already have that? Kate and Pogue flew down there in the beginning of the year, I think." Those lucky bastards. She'd been going for four years straight until she had to move up here.

"There's more than one September in a lifetime. And I plan on being there next year."

"I'll look forward to it, then." The two smiled at each other, not exactly registering that Jen was new to the group and she didn't even know if she'd hang around for another week, much less the months between now and the festival."

The two walk for awhile and she's surprised how easy it is to talk to Caleb. He was just one of those effortlessly nice people that were rare these days. He treated his girlfriend well, took care of his crew like an older brother, took care of his _mother, _got good grades, assumed himself both leadership and role model in every social situation, fed the homeless, saved the world a few times. One of the Superman types, you know.

She had no problem calling him that publicly, and he was such a genuinely good guy that he had no problem accepting the nickname with grace.

An hour rolled by and they made their way back to the room just in time to hear a loud, "Oh shit!" and a "Get off of me!" from in the room.

The two stifled their laughter and walked in to hear the ones walking up burst into laughter.

"So that's why you two never kept a relationship for long." Pogue jokes and Reid gives him the finger.

"Oh, _Jenny,_" She's a Jenny? "I'm so sorry you had to find out like this. I mean, knowing is one thing, but walking in is a whole different matter entirely." Kate tries to adopt a sad look, but the giggles ruin the effect she's trying to go for.

"Why am I always the beard in the situation?" Jen pouts, not thinking about how weird it was for her to feel comfortable around everyone.

"Hey, last I checked there was a chick in my arms. It's not my fault that my girlfriend turned into a dick at midnight." Reid kicked Tyler for good measure.

"As if that was the first time you woke up and found out what you were with had a dick." Tyler snapped, a little cranky at waking up to a cuddlefest with Reid. He'd much rather-no, dangerous territory. Bad thoughts.

"Fucker! That was just one time, and the dude was a full-on trannie. Even you thought he was a she." Reid defended.

"Hah," Pogue obviously remembered, "That was hilarious. Fuck, with all you had I'm surprised you didn't end up with that tree you were making eyes at and calling Shirley."

"Mmleb?" A small voice mutters from under a lump of blankets, and a tuft of blond emerges from the material. Kate "aww"s as Caleb's teasing grin softens and turns mushy as he greets his girlfriend.

Reid gags.

Tyler laughs.

Kate makes a showy romantic gesture, but in her goofiness just ends up licking the side of Pogue's face, which earns wolf whistles rather than noises of disgust.

Jen is getting used to this.


	7. A Day In The Life

"I bet you're just so _smug _right now."

The phrase is accompanied by the slamming of a slender hand onto the tiles of the restroom wall, blocking Jen's escape. The dreaded ex-best friend, whom Jen had hoped would've ignored her for the rest of the year, is looming over her and looking a little dangerous. She thought the only ones she had to worry about were the strangers who had only heard about what she'd done. But Tina was there, right in front of her and glaring, posse off to the side and watching the two like they were some reality show created for their entertainment.

Jen studied the girl, taller than her with flawless just-barely-there makeup and expensively styled hair. Smug? No, she wasn't. What did she have to be smug about? Jen resembled Emily the Strange more than the Gossip Girl in front of her.

"I mean, I thought after the shit you pulled with me you were done. But instead, you just moved right up all the way to the _top_ of the social pyramid. You were laughing the whole time, weren't you?"

Jen shook her head.

"Say something, coward. Don't just slink away and think you're gonna be able to fly under the radar. There are _consequences _for our actions, honey, and vengeance will be taken sevenfold."

Jen just realized that she was all alone in a bathroom with a gang of girls that hated her guts, and the queen bee just made a religious quote referencing _Cain _of all people. Was that supposed to be a hint at something? Because it's not like she murdered anyone, for Pete's sake.

The vultures moved in and Tina locked the bathroom door.

"If you think this is bad, wait until you fuck it up with the Ipswich's" One of the girls muttered harshly in Jen's ear before subjecting her to the worst tortures a bathroom could provide.

She's just glad that girls in this school flushed.

* * *

Jen scrubbed viciously at her hair, trying not to cry like the wimp she knew she was. It's like these girls never learned how to hit, so they had to find other forms of humiliation and pain reminiscent of teen movies. Like swirlies. Who fucking _swirlied _students nowadays?

If she thought they'd believe her, she'd go to the administration and get those bitches all expelled. But it's like the staff was in on it, too, or atleast the students born here held seniority. Maybe if her parents paid the school thousands of dollars she'd have a little more protection in the school.

Not everything is conspiracy, you paranoid liberal freak. Get a grip on yourself. It's only the student body that's after you.

She took a deep breath and turned off the water to the abandoned showers. Everyone was eating lunch, far far away from her. She was safe here.

* * *

"Hey babe."

Life hated her.

"Eat shit and die."

"That's no way to talk to your loving boyfriend, is it?"

First semester was almost over. Now she just had to survive the second term and she was good. She'd go home to where everyone acted like they were from this world, not a televised one, and forget all about the Ipswich brothers and vengeful ex-best friends and this whole entire school. their insane school.

"Don't pay him any attention, Jen. He's just sore cause I beat him in cards." Tyler laughs, giving her a comforting pat on the back, then frowning. "How come your hair is all wet?"

"Bird crapped on me." She gave him a smile to make up for her shrugging off the hand that was still resting on her shoulder, "Had to wash it off."

"Bullshit." Reid declared.

"Excuse me?"

"You're hiding something, and I don't like it. So fess up."

"Fuck you."

"I would if you weren't such a prude."

"I'm sorry you have to put up with such a dick boyfriend, Jen." Tyler interrupted before Jen could slap Reid in the face.

"Why? Is it your fault he is the way he is?"

Reid rolled his eyes and did his equivalent of whatever a pout was.

"The way _I _am? Compared to you guys I hardly bitch at all, but I'm the one always being called a dick."

"You think _we're _worse than _you_?" Jen resisted the urge to dissolve into a pile of giggles.

"Ever since I became the butt of all of your jokes, yeah."

"I wouldn't even be speaking to you right now if you hadn't decided to blackmail me." She hissed while giving the passing students around her shifty eyes.

"You're always gonna be hung up on that, aren't you?"

"You're such a dick."

"Yeah, yeah, we've covered that already. Now come on, I have to be in my suit and on the floor in five minutes."

The two started herding her down the hallway and she frowned, confused as Tyler wordlessly took her book bag and Reid draped an arm over her shoulders.

"Come where?"

"To swim practice, of course, my darling little cherub." Cherub?

"But I've got shit to do."

"Like what? Moping?"

"Studying."

"You have your books and we have bleachers."

"What if I just don't want to?"

"Well, tough. You're my girlfriend, so sit with the other girlfriends and support me, goddammit."

The two exchanged glares and finally, after a moment, Jen let out a little huff. She'd let him get away with this bullshit for now, but as soon as she found an out she was taking it.

Tyler let out a snicker.

* * *

**Author's Note**: A little abrupt, I'm sorry. I'm getting stuck for fillers, and real life is preventing me from writing much.


	8. Madman Across the Water

_**Twelve years ago**_

_**The Danvers Estate**_

_Tyler Simms was in the backyard, yelling at Reid to stop it, please, you're hurting it!_

"_Shut up, pussy!" He replies, using his newly discovered curse word to the fullest. All week he'd been dropping it left and right, whenever the adults weren't listening. Pussy, pussy, pussy._

_Reid resumes his torture of the insect underneath him, holding it up curiously and twisting the wing about._

"_You're hurting it!"_

"_Am not."_

"_Reid, stop it." Caleb demands after assessing the situation._

"_Why?"_

"_Because you killing a bug is freaking Tyler out."_

"_I'm not killing it. I'm **playing** with it."_

_Reid stops for a moment to look at the withered, twitching insect._

"_It's dying." Caleb deduces._

_Reid pouts._

"_You ripped off it's legs, Reid, of course it's going to die." Caleb reasons before walking away and playing on the tire swing with Pogue._

_Reid frowned at the little bug and prodded it some more. Tyler whined at him to stop._

_Reid prodded Tyler instead._

* * *

Jen was very uncomfortable.

It was pretty safe to say that before this moment, she had never been in a competitive swimming environment. The pools she went to? The boys wore trunks and the self-conscious or lazy ones wore baggy shirts. She had heard of the speedo, seen it on old men at the beach or on hot men on television. But never was she completely surrounded by hot teenage boys scantily clad in speedos and glistening wet.

"You okay there, hon?" Kate laughed, "Sarah, I don't think she's seen the boys in action before."

"Really? When I came here, it was the first event I was dragged to. I thought the whole school was obsessed with the boys."

"I went to the afterparties?" Oh, the underage drinking. How she missed it.

"That doesn't count at all." Sarah exclaimed, "That's like going to the theater when the movie's already over."

"If the movie ending means more alcohol and an endless amount of fire, I don't have a problem with that."

Kate laughed. Jen didn't mean to say all that out loud.

"But isn't the eye candy worth the wasted time?" Kate very obviously eyed her man and Sarah did the same, only with a bit more modesty.

"It's..." Awkward? Ogling was usually a one-sided thing for her. After all, celebrities don't notice you drooling after them. They're used to screaming masses. "Like seeing a dirty movie on TV."

"Well I'm sure you'll be seeing more of Garwin soon enough." Sarah reassured, as if that would help at all in this situation.

"Lord help you." Kate said.

"You talking about us, girls?" Caleb laughed, approaching them while drying his head with a towel. Sarah laughed and took over the towel drying duties.

"Only a little bit." Sarah admitted.

"So watch what you say. Because we will gossip." Kate teased, greeting her beau while the rest of the boys joined them.

"Come on, guys," Tyler reasoned, "Doesn't it ever get tiring, talking shit about Reid?"

"Real nice, Simms." Reid smacked Tyler with his towel.

"Bite me, Garwin."

"Like a married couple." Jen commented, and the group erupted into laughter around the two victims.

"I'm going back to practice." Tyler shook his head, knowing it was pointless to argue once the group started making gay jokes about the two. Yeah, they were best friends. But did Tyler really want all the diseases that would accompany being Reid's significant other? There was only so much black magic could handle.

"Kiss me for luck?" Reid leaned in close with a leer while the other couples kissed their goodbyes and parted.

"Maybe on your deathbed."

The look on Reid's face seems as if he's going to take it as a personal challenge.

...

She feels a bit like shit when, ten minutes later, he's pulled up out of the water unconscious from swimming into the wall.


	9. Someone Must Get Hurt

Reid feels himself being dragged out of the water and stops breathing. People are panicking all around him; Tyler is yelling at him to 'wake up dammit!' and it takes everything in him not to burst into laughter.

"Oh fuck." He hears Jen say, "I've killed him, haven't I?"

"Maybe he wants you to kiss him?" Thank you, Kate. You understand the situation perfectly.

"I can do this. I'm certified." Tyler said, panicked, and Reid felt himself panic too. Tyler was certified in black magic and _bullshit, _and Reid didn't feel much like getting mouth to mouth for no reason.

Reid hacked into Jennifer's files in the office weeks ago. He knew she was actually certified when she was in California. Bitch was like a pro in everything except social niceties. Why couldn't _she _be the one volunteering to save him?

He sense someone getting closer, hovering over him, only knowing from body heat because the mass amounts of chlorine he inhaled from playing dead messed with his sinuses beyond belief. His eyes snap open because he really doesn't feel like kissing baby boy.

He feels a body hovering over him, only going off of body heat because in playing dead he breathed in a bunch of chlorine and his nose was burning like hell. His eyes snap open, because he _really_ didn't feel like kissing baby boy, and look into pretty girl-eyes that, while baby boy's eyes are delicate and feminine, aren't lined in black and filled with an unnatural purple color.

Oh Jennifer, darling, you shouldn't have.

She starts leaning back now that his eyes are open, and he was just joking in his head when he said she shouldn't. He panics again, this time for a different reason altogether, and grabs the back of her head to stop her from getting too far away.

"Garwin?" She asks in a quiet voice, her wide eyes getting even wider, and even though girls like her usually made him want to slit his wrists from how dead they looked, he thought it was cute on her. Maybe it was the tan.

He kisses her.

She resists at first, the little rascal, but gives in eventually. Reid gives himself a mental pat on the back for melting the frigid bitch. He lets her go and gives her an easy smile, liking how 'dazed' suited her face so well.

Slapping seemed to enjoy attaching itself to his face, though.

"Ow! Really?"

"Yes. Asshole."

Everyone laughs now that Reid isn't dying and everything is back to normal. Only Sarah notices the stormy look on Tyler's face.

* * *

Jen was in a daze.

From the moment the two crossed paths, Jen knew that Reid was of poor moral character. She knew the bastard would do something horrible and embarrassing to her at a moment's notice if it meant having a laugh. But to actually kiss her? She was pretty sure that was crossing a line.

However the rest of the Ipswich's thought that her and Reid kissing wasn't anything out of the ordinary, so she couldn't act as freaked out as she was. Atleast until she was behind closed doors.

Little did she know, halfway across the school Tyler was having a similar meltdown behind closed doors. In Sarah's room, after she dragged him there claiming they needed to have some 'girl-talk'. Caleb was a little put-out, but a look at Kate had her forcing her boyfriend to drag Caleb away.

Reid missed all of this, feeling that after all of the excitement he needed a nap.

"So when did you fall in love with Jen?" Sarah asks, the moment she locks the door and turns to face the boy.

He opens his mouth to try and deny is, but with the look that Sarah gives him (since when has she had so many damn _looks_?) he gives up and just collapses onto her bed.

"I've liked her for a few months now." He says, knowing how pathetic he sounds.

Sarah makes a noise of disbelief, "You're kidding."

"Do you know how unapproachable she is? I thought if I tried to talk to her she would have bitten my head off. Reid's the one who broke the ice, not me."

"And you're only jealous of them now? How long have they been dating?"

"Long enough for me to think that it means something to him. What relationship has lasted longer than the night for Reid?"

"I know you two are best friends, but..." She shakes her head. Sometimes she hated the bro code, "Does Reid know? That you're jealous?"

Tyler scoffs.

"Why do you think I'm spilling all of this to you instead of him? He has the emotional sensitivity of.. I dunno, a hyena."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Grin and bear it? I dunno. I didn't even think about it until I saw them kiss."

Sarah nods and they bask in the silence for awhile, Tyler staring up at the ceiling and letting himself angst for a bit.

"You wanna know what I think?" She asks in a low voice, a bit unwilling to break the silence.

"What?"

"She smiles more when she looks at you."


	10. White Rabbit

_It's PE, ninth grade, and Jen is sitting on the sidelines watching the students run past her. The gym teacher, in the few weeks they've been to school, gave up on her by now. But a lanky boy with sideswept hair, the stereotypical skater, catches notice of the girl sitting at the bleachers_

_"What on Earth are you doing, missy?"_

_Jennifer looks up from the bleachers._

_"What do you mean?" She doesn't mind the fact that they're complete strangers and smiles at him innocently._

_"We're doing drills and you're on the bleachers. Watching. What's up with that? You sick or something?"_

_"I'm going military-style." Him being a shy, teenage boy, he's torn between giggling and blushing. He and all teenage boys were prone to consider anything-style something dirty and perverted, so to contain himself he settled for looking confused._

_"What?"_

_"Lead, follow, or get out of the way. I'm out of the way."_

_He laughs out loud, "You are filled with shit.__"_

_Her smile widens._

_"I'm Jennifer."_

_"Hi Jen. My name's Titus." She gives a little blush at the nickname; it would be a complete lie if she said she had many friends, and even fewer that would've thought to label her with a term of endearment._

_He pays no mind to the gym teacher glaring at the two and sits next to her._

_They're now best friends._

* * *

Having rich friends with cars came in handy sometimes. The next day, Tyler asks her what food she wants for dinner (acting like nothing out of the ordinary happened at all, thank god). She plays it modest, says anything is fine, until he really insists and she admits she's been craving korean BBQ for ages. Back in the bay area she couldn't walk a single block without taquerias or Korean BBQs. Now she'd be lucky if she spotted a jar of kimchi in the supermarket.

So thanks to the internet, they tracked down the only korean place for miles, and she was able to feast on delicious food once more.

All Kate did was complain about how it burned her tongue.

Reid turned out to love it.

Her heart warmed a little bit without her consent.

"What's this stuff?" Reid stabbed what he was eating with one of his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Kimchi."

"Tastes like God."

"Delicious, spicy, fermented God." She took a moment to think about what she just said, "Ignore that. What do you think?" She turns to look at Tyler with hopeful eyes.

"It's, uh, yeah, it's good. Great."

She smiles at him and he smiles back. Then she notices that even though Kate had been complaining about the food, with how long they had been here even she was halfway done with her food whereas Tyler's plate looked untouched. He notices her noticing and shoves some of the pork into his mouth.

A few seconds later he's choking on it and Reid's laughing and Pogue pounds on his back until finally Tyler can breathe again and Caleb is glaring at Reid for all he's worth, as if it's Garwin's fault that Tyler didn't know how to chew properly.

She misses the normalcy of California.

* * *

They go out to Nicky's, later, but Caleb has to have a "talk" with Reid that she overhears when she's feeling a little tired and mostly antisocial and just wants the dick to drive her home. She feels a bit like an ass for staying the doorway to the back, but it's not her fault that they couldn't hear her coming and that she felt too awkward to impose on them when the both of them looked so pissed at each other.

"It_'s not _your problem!" Reid yells.

"It is when it's over _petty _crap like it was today."

"How come _you're _always the boss of everybody? I'm going to be eighteen in a week."

"And you're not going to survive past that week if you keep _using _like you do!"

The two keep arguing, but Jen books it.

So Reid's a drug-addict?

She wouldn't care, normally. She'd be a liar if she said she hadn't gotten high a couple times, gone to a few raves, developed a fondness for Smirnoff and root beer (the oddest combination her friends always made fun of her for,) broken a few dozen laws, and when you were in California if half your friends weren't rolling half the time then... well... you had a very strict moral code and didn't have that many friends in the first place.

But if Caleb (who was a little bit of a stick in the mud, but still had the occasional drink now and then,) had to have a one-man intervention with Reid, maybe he was on some real trippy shit. Life-ruining shit with high death rates. She never saw him use anything, and didn't see any signs of it when he was running around in his skimpy swimteam trunks, but she felt a little shaken nonetheless.

And then a little pissed.

So he was a drug-addict, a blackmailer, and he stole kisses after pretending to drown.

In what way was he _not _a dickbag?

**Author's Note: **In case it wasn't clear, Reid used a bit to make Tyler _accidentally _choke on his korean barbecue.


	11. The Undeveloped Story

**Disclaimer: **The author does not have anything against Californians, or people who don't spell out words when they text

* * *

Jen's cellphone buzzes, loudly, right in the middle of class when there's a lull in the lecture and quiet enough to hear, and it's confiscated for the entire day.

It's not the phone being taken away that bothers her. It's the name that shows up on the screen that she only glances at as she's handing it over.

Titus.

It's a bit of a pattern for her to have a falling-out with all of her close friends, so she decides to brood on her failure as a human being for the rest of the day. The only time she pops out of her angst bubble is to snap at Reid, and she's so filled with self-loathing that she doesn't even realize it when her classmates are taunting her. Yeah, yeah, she's a whore. What did Titus text her about?

Did he text her on accident? That would be even worse than him just texting to bitch at her. There were easily more than five Jennifers at her school.

Tyler tries to talk to her during and after, but that's her last class of the day and she's already booking it to her history teacher the minute she's out of the door. If she doesn't see what he texted her about she's going to explode.

'_hey' _it says.

She's a little disappointed, but texts a '_hey'_ back and impatiently waits the seven minutes (she wasn't counting, of course,) it takes for him to text back.

'_hows life in a unifrm goin?'_

She frowns a bit at how casual he's being, but he has always been the epitome of casual, to the point where he was sometimes frustrating. Like now, for instance.

"Jennifer Warren," Reid says, coming up from behind her and taking her waist with his hand, "Who on Earth could you be texting?" He snatches her phone away before she can formulate a reply, "I thought you didn't have any friends."

"Go fuck a monkey." She grabs her phone back, but not before he looks at the number.

"That's not a 978 number. Hey, Baby Boy, where's 408 from?"

"I don't know." Tyler said, appearing from nowhere behind us. Kate follows, linking arms with Jen who flinches for a moment but then gets used to the physical contact.

"California, obviously." Kate rolls her eyes, "I mean, that's where she's from, right Jen?"

"Yeah." She mutters, still wondering what to write back. She settles for 'interesting' and then feels like a boring loser.

It only takes a few minutes for him to respond this time.

'_stil as talkativ as eva, ic'_

She starts to ignore the outside world again and focuses on what could possibly be the salvaging of the longest and strongest friendship she's ever had.

'_and you still can't spell a whole word to save your life.'_

_'n u still talk granny'_

_'as in i'm eloquent? is that what your'e getting at?'_

_'granlyk eloquens'_

_'speak english'_

_'suk my dik'_

_'can't. i'm on the east coast.'_

_'rep westside btch!'_

She laughs to herself before her phone is taken away, yet again, and a white hand with fingerless gloves is holding her at a distance while the jerk scrolls through her texts. He is going to die.

The rest of them have already walked on and met up with the rest of the group, and only Tyler hangs around a little bit to hover and look on.

"So you're consorting with a gangbanger who can't spell for shit."

"And what do you call your chicken scratch?" She gives him a kidney punch but her phone is still out of reach, "And if your little Ipswich family isn't a gang, then this is my real eyecolor." She points to her icy blue irises.

"Excuses, excuses."

The two have a staring contest that's only broken by another text from Titus.

"_cmon u kno my txts get u all hott n hevvy'_

He raises an eyebrow as the two look at the text and Jen's ears go a little red at the tips.

"So you're cheating on me?" And is it just her or does he look a little butt-hurt? The corner of his mouth twitches and she rolls her eyes. Of course he doesn't have feelings. He's just trying not to laugh.

"Yes, I'm having a sordid love-affair all the way from fucking _California_. That's really fulfilling for me, Garwin."

"Hey, sexting is a growing epidemic with the young folks. And sexting is cheating."

Its when he slides open the keyboard on her phone and starts texting back that she gets really angry, and curses the long limbs that prevent her from getting her phone back.

'_dickwad. i have a boyfriend. ure ugly. never talk 2 me again.'_

"You're dumb." She says, finally taking back her phone and pouting at the message he sent, sending a 'disregard the previous message' as fast as she can. Her cell stays silent, which worries her.

"And you're mean."

"You are not really calling _me _mean."

"If the shoe fits."

"The shoe can suck my dick!" She glares at Reid, "And so can you, for that matter!"

He's quiet for a moment, trying to hold in his laughter, and she takes that opportunity to shove him away and stalk in the opposite direction of where her adoptive group was gathering. She needed some time alone. She _was _falling behind in her studies, maybe she'd go to the library for the bit.

"Bitch!" He calls before she disappears into the crowd, and Kate gives Reid a glare.

"What?" Reid snaps as he joins the group. Pogue backs away with Caleb and Tyler gives him a 'good-luck' face. Cowardly bitches.

"Garwin, do you really have to ruin it with her already? I don't ask that much from you," Kate starts out, and Reid rolls his eyes and braces himself because she sounds like she's going for a long one, "But for once in your life, can you _not _act like a total asshole?"

Reid opens his mouth to protest, because how rude is she, really, to resort to namecalling?

"Just _let me finish._ Do you know how many cool chicks there are in this school? Not enough to put up with you using them like toilet paper. There is too little estrogen in this group, Garwin, and sometimes it's hard for me and Sarah to compete with your male genitalia. Is this fun for you, Reid? Are you _trying _to make me lonely? I've been your friend for years, Garwin, I don't deserve to have to resort to befriending _Kira _or something for some goddamn vagina monologues. Cause while she may not be fake, she sure as hell is one _skanky-ass _bitch. Do you want that, Garwin? Do you want me braiding Abbot's hair at slumber parties?"

"God, woman, relax. Nothing I do in my life is related to you. At all."

"Well it sure as hell feels like you're making my life pretty goddamn miserable on purpose! Don't drive away one of the only girls in this school that I can stand!"

"Do you ever get over yourself? Why do you think she's hanging out with you at _all, _babydoll? It's not your stunning personality, that's for sure. If the world revolves around anyone, it's _me._"

He chooses that precise moment to turn around and leave a seething Kate behind. Knowing when to leave was an important skill to have, just as important as an arrival if not moreso. So he left a speechless Kate with a group of disgruntled teenage boys, Pogue cursing Reid's back for pissing off his girlfriend so much and then leaving him to deal with it.

Finally she collects herself enough to form words, and turns to the boys expectantly, "I know you guys were friends since you were all in diapers, but that guy just makes me wish I could turn back time and smother him before he ever learned how to speak."

Caleb laughs, "He was like this even before he knew how to talk. There was never any hope for him."

Tyler thinks it's a little fucked up, how easily Reid is becoming the villain these days, but he thinks it's more fucked up that Tyler follows after him more out of obligation than anything else. He is Baby Boy. He follows the rebel Reid Garwin wherever he goes. His job is only to comment from the sidelines. He never has a story of his own.

But he follows Reid and lets his story play out, because even though the beginning really sucked, Jen is still Reid's heroine, not his.

"What was that fight with Jen even about?" He asks casually after Reid punches the wall. They're headed for the parking lot, and Tyler cherishes the few moments where the car keys are still in _his _pocket, knowing that at any moment they'll be in Reid's hands and he'll be riding shotgun to his own car.

"Nothing." Reid muttered, "She just got pissy. I mean, when she's texting some fucker that's asking if she's getting all hot and bothered, what the fuck am I supposed to do? She's _mine, _not some Californian fuckers. Surfer douchebag."

Now he thinks the situation is _really _fucked up, because not only did Reid kiss her, but now he's acting jealous? Reid wasn't even supposed to be interested in her. Reid didn't _blackmail _people when he liked them. That was fucked up, even for Reid of little morals.

But Reid couldn't like her. Reid liked the busty and giggly type, that are all gung ho for getting into his pants. Jen was reluctant at the most, and quiet and sweet and _smart_, although a little stupid with people. He didn't care what everyone said she did with Derek. If anything, the stupid jerk took advantage of _her,_ and Tina was just talking out of her ass.

And besides, even if she did, did one mistake really warrant her being abandoned by every friend she had?

He shook his head. He was thinking too much about this, and they weren't even going out. She completely ignored him today, after all. Maybe she didn't _want _friends.

Afterall, Reid _was _blackmailing her with... well, whatever she did.

"Hey, what do you have on her anyway?"

"What?" Reid asks, stopping his rant over how stupid Californians were (the bunch of hippies,) and looking at him in annoyed confusion.

"I was there when you blackmailed her into going out with you, Reid. What do you have on her?"

"Oh, that." He says, almost as if he forgot he was blackmailing her in the first place, "Just something stupid. No big deal."

Tyler nods, unconvinced, but Reid's his brother and he loves him despite how he complains, far more than any girl he's hardly known for a year, so he'll let it go for now.


	12. Build God, Then We'll Talk

_LAST SUMMER_

_CALIFORNIA_

_"Hey pretty lady." A lanky boy leans on the back of a park bench and slides into the seat, "How you doin'?"_

_"I'm doin' good, how you doin'?" The girl mocks back, scratching behind Titus's ears as if he were a puppy._

_"Real good, right? Private school good, even."_

_"Just what I was going to tell you." She laughs nervously._

_"Tell me when, a month ago?"_

_"I didn't know how to say goodbye to you."_

_"Your parents are saying you're leaving in three days. Were you just planning on dropping this on me last minute, or were you just going to disappear?"_

_"Whichever didn't come first." She admits._

_He doesn't know what to say, and instead just leaves._

_She sits on the park bench for an hour, waiting for him to come back, until finally she walks home._

_He waits until she's all the way across the country before he misses her._

* * *

She's walking down the hallway, alone, her anger at Reid outweighing her common sense. She is one of the biggest targets in the school, and she is walking unprotected through it's hallways like a dumbass. Yet she is still surprised when she bumps into someone, much less someone with such history as she does with _him._

Derek.

The one who caused it all.

The 'sorry' that she had prepared for whoever she bumped into lodged in her throat as the two stared at each other before looking quickly away, and the moment passes as if nothing's happened at all.

The whispers start up again, louder than ever. Those two are the one who started all this shit, and what was it for if they can't even talk to each other? Shits and giggles? The player and the whore.

She walks faster than ever away from the whispers and _him _and straight up to the roof.

She sits on the edge until the sun goes down.

Titus never texts her back.

* * *

The next day she's tired and quiet(er) and doesn't want to see anyone at all. But she is a good student despite her depression and forces herself to go to class.

Reid notices her funk, and has very little patience for her moods. So he catches up to her in between classes and pounces.

"We're all going to Nicky's tonight," Reid announces, "And you're coming with."

"Whatever." She says, defeated, planning to hide in her room all night unless he dragged her out of there kicking and screaming.

"Come on, where's that talkative side of yours?" Reid has his expectant face on, draping an arm over her shoulder and leaning in close, grinning that flirty grin of his.

She pushes his head away and keeps walking. Anymore of his messing around and she'd be late to class.

"Reid, me and her gotta get going. Class starts soon and we're halfway across the school." Tyler prodded and Reid rolled his eyes. "Calm your tits, Baby Boy. Me and her are making plans."

"I'll come, alright? Just let me go to class."

"I'm taking you out to lunch, too."

"What's wrong with the food here?"

"They don't have pasta." She looks tempted at the thought of Italian food.

She looked down at her feet, biting her lip and looking so fucking _cute_. Reid shook his head to prevent himself from being too much of a dumbass.

"Do they have good garlic bread?" She asks, as if that's the deal breaker.

"Fuck yeah. They give you a whole bread basket."

She salivates a bit at the thought of bread in baskets.

"Okay. Fine. I'll see you at lunch then." She turns and speeds up, catching up to Tyler as the two of them head to class. The bell rings as soon as they start walking.

"That little bastard." She curses to herself, almost breaking out into a run before Tyler stops her and they slow to a fast-paced walk.

"Don't worry about it. We'll just blame Reid." Tyler decides, smiling at her reassuringly.

She scoffed, "The answer to everything. Blame Reid."

"Don't fix it if it's not broken."

They speed towards the class in silence and when they burst through the doors blaming Reid worked perfectly.

The two exchange conspiratorial glances, and Tyler does his best to hide the blossoming smirk on his face as he pulls Jen's chair out for her. She does a little curtsey as she sits down, and the students around them giggle as they realize how much shit they're filled with.

* * *

They work in what Jen views as a comfortable silence before Tyler decides to break it.

"So how are you?"

She shrugs at the horrible conversation starter.

"Listen, what Reid's doing with you is messed up. I know that." He said, getting serious and cutting to the chase.

"I think anyone with any sense at all knows that." She raises an eyebrow.

"But if you let me, I can help you."

She raises an eyebrow, "And what're you going to do?"

"Nothing, right now. I don't even know what he has on you."

She nods.

He waits.

She keeps taking notes and doesn't say anything.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"What he has on you."

She pretends to think about it.

"Nope."

"_Come on_, it can't be_ that_ bad. I just want to help."

"I'm good."

"But I'm trying to help."

"And I don't need one more person knowing my business."

Tyler looks at her, wide-eyed.

"Are you..." His voice drops to a low murmur, "A dealer?"

She laughs, "If I was a dealer, my supplier would've been some badass that would silenced the little dick before he even had a chance to tell anyone he knew something." She rolls her eyes, "It's called _blackmail _for a reason, Tyler. I don't want anyone knowing, and I don't want anyone else getting the upper hand when Reid has already done a swimmingly good job of extorting my weaknesses."

"Do you really think I'd do that?" The hurt look on his face makes her feel like she just kicked a puppy.

"No," She says reluctantly, "But after all the shit I've seen from this school, I'd rather not take my chances."

"Come on, are we really that bad?"

She just looks at him.

"Mr. Simms, if you're done with your conversation with Miss Warren? I'd like to get back to teaching sometime today."

The class giggles.

He nods, a little put-out, and the two continue taking notes in silence.

* * *

Reid spoke Italian.

She doesn't know why she's surprised that a rich white-boy is bilingual when there are hundreds of trilinguals where she came from. Never _Italian_, though. Usually just Korean, Chinese, and Japanese all piled into one. It's a well kept secret of hers, but she has a small obsession with the languages across the Atlantic. She keeps the secret hidden.

"And what'll you have?" Reid asks Jen, switching back to English so fast her brain takes a minute or two to catch up.

"Spaghetti and meatballs." She mutters. He raises an eyebrow at the lack of imagination in her meal, but nods to the waiter all the same.

This restaurant was scarily high-class. The menus _had no prices on it_.

"Comfy, babe?" He smirks at her, and her automatic glare is right back up and staring at him.

"We are in a five-star restaurant in our _school uniforms._"

"So I don't have to worry about that whole shirt and tie shit." He shrugs. Only Reid Garwin wouldn't care about being in a fancy restaurant in his school tie and_fingerless gloves_.

She decides to repeat herself, just to make her point clearer, "I am in my school uniform."

He gives a long-suffering sigh, "Do you want to get changed?"

"Into what? We're already _here_."

"There's a store down the street." He shrugs, taking his wallet out and holding out a few hundred dollar bills, "Real fancy shit. I'm sure they'll have a cheap dress there for you." Yeah, a cheap dress around _five hundred dollars._

She pushes the money away and leans in close to hiss at him, "I am _not_ your _whore._"

He smirks and tucks the money back into his wallet.

"Stop complaining unless you want me to do something about it."

"You're such an asshole."

"Sing me another tune, sister. How's the bread?"

She's quiet.

"Thought so."

Smug bastard.

* * *

A/N: I have not been getting alot of sleep lately, so if the chapter is screwy, I apologize. I also have no beta.


	13. Big Boots

"I can't decide yet." Kate decides aloud, as she finishes putting the finishing touches on the celebrity waves of her hair.

Jen has already been dressed for awhile, since she didn't plan on going any crazier than a pair of good jeans and a nice shirt. She is now waiting for Kate and Sarah to finish getting gussied up so she can go waste the rest of her night with them. But for now, she is being mentally productive and reading Don Quixote, because Cervantes is violent comedic gold.

"Decide on what?" Jen asks, blinking up at Kate from the ground.

"Whether you're deviously manipulative or naively adorable."

"It's kind of hard to confuse the two though." She says slowly, as if she were talking to a very slow child, "They're pretty much the exact opposite of each other."

"Sociopaths are normal functioning members of society. Oftentimes they're the nicest ones." Sarah pipes in.

"So now I'm a sociopath."

"I said I haven't decided yet." Kate argues.

"Oh. Tell me what you decide, then." She returns to her reading.

She's been called worse things than 'sociopath'.

Kate gives a long-suffering sigh.

"I'm just glad you're not mad at him anymore."

"Pardon?" She asks, as she is disturbed yet again from her book.

"At Reid. I'm glad you're not mad at him anymore, otherwise Nicky's would've just been a sausage-fest." She pauses for a moment, "I didn't mean it like how it sounded, though."

"Right." Jen goes back to her book.

"So what was the fight even about, anyways?" Sarah asks.

Jen shrugs.

"Reid was just being his usual self."

"If that's how you get when he's his usual self, how are you with him in the first place?" Sarah asks.

Kate elbows her. She wanted the cute shy girl to stay _in _the group, not dump Reid and run away.

"I don't know." Jen answers honestly, "Because I'm a chump?"

"Why do you put up with that, then?" Kate forgets her plans to keep Jen happy, "If Pogue ever acted towards me like how Reid acts in general, I would... I would get _so angry _at him, he would have to come back _begging_. With roses. And diamonds."

"But he took her to Ciao Bellas earlier." Sarah countered, "That's where Caleb took me for our one month anniversary."

"Well, thats kind of sweet." Kate admitted, "That's where Pogue took me after one of our first fights. It's such a sweet little place, isn't it?" She smiles at Jen, all thoughts of Reid forgotten, "Alright, so let's get your hair done."

"It _is_ done."

"What?"

"My hair. It's done."

"But... It's the same from this morning."

"Nope. I put it in a ponytail." She points to the ponytail.

"It _was _in a ponytail this morning."

"Oh. Then I guess I didn't do anything to it."

"That's... Alright, get up here. We're doing your hair."

"God, not another movie-moment." Jen sighs to herself.

"Excuse me?" Sarah laughs.

"This whole school is like one big movie. You've got the Mean Girl bitches, the _catholic school uniforms, _the six packs, the jocks? The only skater here is _Reid._ And everyone is filthy rich."

"Hey, not all of us." Sarah adds in.

"Right. Scholarship buddies, fo sho." Jen raises her hand for a fist bump, but just gets an odd look instead, "Okay never mind then."

Kate just laughs at her.

"Alright. You're too melodramatic to be a sociopath. Seriously, life here isn't exciting enough to be a movie. One of us'd have to have a superpower or something."

Sarah chokes on the water she was conveniently drinking.

"Don't hint that there's excitement here that I don't know about," Kate chastises with a pout, "I know all of the excitement already, and you're only getting my hopes up."

Jen rolls her eyes, "Are we ready?"

"No, because we haven't even _started _on your hair. I'm thinking curls, right Sarah?"

"Fuck that." Jen says, "Just because I'm Californian doesn't mean I'm Vanessa Hudgens."

"Of course not," Kate nods very seriously, "You're way too pale. But you've got some bohemian all mixed up in your Goth, and you're still going to be _hot_."

"I'm sure."

"You better be."

"What shoe size are you?" Sarah asks, eyeing Jen's feet.

"A six." Jen answers warily. This _was _a teenage movie. Oh, if only Chris Pine were here.

"Great. We're like the Sisterhood of Traveling Shoes or something." Kate exclaims, "One shoe fits them all."

"That's Lord of the Rings." Jen corrects.

"Ew, you watched that? I could only handle the first movie. Only liked the beginning with the midgets and the elves. Then everything got icky with the zombies."

"I _read _it, yeah. You mean the orcs?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Voila! You're gorgeous. Now let Sarah do your face while I find a better jacket for you."

"What's wrong with my jacket?"

"It has some weird pentagram on the back. We're going to a bar, not a coven."

"It's a Heartogram. And I'm pretty sure Ville Valo is religious... Maybe. You support Bam Margera, right?"

"That Jackass guy?"

"Yeah. And they both wear _heart_ograms."

"I'm pretty sure they're not role models to live up to or anything." Sarah laughed, telling Jen to look up as she put eyeliner on, "My role model? Blake Lively."

"And mine's Zoe Saldana." Kate shrugs, "To stick with the races and all. Or if we're getting really crazy, it's Audrey Hepburn."

"That just got more boring, as you thought you were getting more crazy." Jen quips as Sarah laughs.

"And who's _your role model_ than?"

Jen thought.

"Mia Kirshner? Or Misha Collins. I don't know."

"I only know Mischa Bartlett."

"I don't know who that is at all."

Kate utilizes the internet.

"Oh, I know Kirshner! She was in the Vampire Diaries. Pretty cute, yeah. Got that whole big-eyed thing going on."

"She was on the L Word, too."

"Oh, that weird lesbian show?"

"Yup."

Kate types some more.

"Misha looks... Weird." Sarah says, looking at a picture where his eyes were sunken and his smile was big and he was wearing a big baggy trenchcoat over a suit.

"That's a nice way of putting it. No way! Is he in drag? Is he gay?" Kate laughs at a picture of him in a white wedding dress.

"I wish. I think almost everyone watching Supernatural wants a big gay orgy on the show." Jen sighs, "But no, he's married. To a woman."

"And he's your role model?"

"He was an intern at the white house," Jen argued.

"Until he wore drag, got fired, and then became an actor."

"Barring the middle and not in that order, yeah, he became an actor and wore drag. I get bored on the computer. I know these things."

"Right. You, Jennifer Warren, are an _odd _one." Kate laughs, holding up a leather jacket against Jen's back.

"So I've heard."

"But a hot one, fer sure."

"That, not so much."

"Oh, _please_." Kate waves her hand, "I just want to eat you up with how cute you always are. I can't stand it."

"Um, thank you? Don't eat me?"

"No worries. You only have to worry about the guys eating you up tonight." Sarah reassures, "Because you look _smoking_."

Jen, uncomfortable with the praise, smiled shyly then left the room.

Sarah and Kate just laughed and followed, linking arms.

* * *

"Hey baby." Reid says, pulling Jen in by the waist with both hands and smirking at her. She looks up at him with wide eyes, incredibly uncomfortable, but he does nothing but grin at her, then spin her so just his arm was around her back and she was a little more comfortable. But Jennifer was _not _a ragdoll, thank you, "Making up for how underdressed we were at lunch?"

"I see _you're _not bothering," Jen remarks, noting the same beanie and fingerless gloves.

"What can I say? I'm consistent."

"Consistently _chaotic_." Jennifer mutters and Tyler overhears and laughs.

"That's a good one. I might use that." Tyler says, and Reid just gives him the finger. Tyler mimes grabbing it out of the air and putting it in his back pocket.

* * *

A/N: It'll be my excuse that as Jen gets more comfortable with everyone, she'll talk more and more like a Bay Area native.

And boy will it be dorky.


	14. Bastard

"So is this a routine for you guys?" Jen asks, "Going to Nicky's friday night, playing foosball and pool, getting into fights and then going home?"

She is walking towards the car with everyone after spending the night alternating between sitting at the table, cheering the foosball fight on, and watching the Tyler and Reid beat some suckers at pool. Then having a fight about the pool break out and getting kicked out.

"With how small this town is?" Reid asks, "Of course. It's nothing but parties and Nicky's. There's nothing else other than old houses."

"Fun." She sighs, biting a nail and sounding as if it were not fun at all. No wonder Reid was such a dick, if this was all he did all the time.

"And what do they have in fancy-ass California? Sorry there're no waves you'd want to ride over here. Just lakes."

"I don't know how to surf." Jen rolls her eyes, "Shit, everyone at home would always just go somewhere else when we were bored. Isn't there a city nearby?"

"Boston?" Kate offers, "It's only a few hours away, and it's got a few swanky clubs."

"You want an impromptu roadtrip, California?" Pogue asks, giving Jen a daredevil grin.

"That's not going to be my new nickname, right? Cause I'll hate you if it sticks." Jen warns.

"Of course not." Caleb reassures her, then gives her a wicked grin, "California."

"I hate you all."

"Don't worry babe," Reid says, leading her to the car, "I'll make it there in less than an hour."

"Yeah, that'll be fun."

"Oh come on," Sarah bumps shoulders with Jen and then climbs into the back of Tyler's hummer, "Once you get into it, Reid's driving is fun."

"Yeah." Pogue says sarcastically, "I mean, who minds having a heart attack on the road?"

"Pussy." Reid mutters, pick-pocketing Tyler for the keys and sliding into the driver's seat. "Come on, babe, you're riding shotgun."

Jen starts sliding into the backseat when Reid hops out of the car and throws her over his shoulder.

"What the hell, man?" She smacks him hard on the back.

"I thought I told you to ride shotgun?"

"I thought you were talking to Tyler."

"You just _want_ to be difficult, don't you?"

"A little bit." He throws her into the passenger seat and at least has the common courtesy to make sure nothing is sticking out before he slams the door closed.

"So, California," Pogue starts, leaning into the front seat and grinning at her, "You're bored of the small-town life and you want to go to a big city. What's first on your list?"

"I don't know Boston. What places do you usually hit up?"

"In the company of women?" Reid snorts, gunning the engine and starting their epic adventure, "Five star restaurants."

"And without the estrogen?" Jen asks.

"It all depends on who's turn it is." Tyler explains.

"Turn?"

"Yeah. We all take turns on where to go."

"And who's turn is it this time?"

"Mine, bitches." Reid says at the same moment Caleb shouts, "No strip joints!"

Kate rolls her eyes, "Of course. And the rest of you guys?"

"With Pogue it's biker bars, and Caleb just plain bars. Both with rock music." Tyler puts in.

"And then with Baby Boy here, it's headbanging bars." Pogue makes a go for Tyler's hair, but he ducks out of the way. It takes a lot of hair gel to make it stick up like that.

"And then with Reid it's naked women and vampire music."

"And bars!" Reid adds.

"How about headbanging bars?" Jen suggests. Reid smirks and is just about to suggest a place when Kate speaks up.

"I'll pass." Kate wrinkles her nose, "What about just a club?"

Jen snorts, "I want to see Caleb rave. Fuck, I want to see Caleb _roll_. It'll be hilarious."

"Not those kind of clubs, babe." Reid smirks, "She's talking about just a regular ol' dance club."

"Oh." Jen is a little disappointed.

"It's fine." Tyler reaches forward and rubs Jen's shoulder, "We can go everywhere."

"Alright." She is appeased.

And a little excited.

* * *

It's a little past two, they're dancing, and Jen is a little drunk.

It takes a moment for her to realize she's being dragged away, but once it's quiet and dark, she realizes that she's pinned by the blond nuisance in her life and he's... glaring at her?

"What do you expect of Baby Boy, huh?"

She giggles a bit, realizing that he was _jealous._ Of who, she didn't know, but her and Baby Boy, who really was a big boy, were dancing just now. She thinks. Maybe a little before that. And Reid was _jealous_.

"Why? You wanna be in my position?"

"Please," Reid sneers cruelly and rolls his eyes, "I don't know who you're trying to fool, babe. Tyler's single for a reason."

Jen rolls his eyes in a drunken mimic of his attitude.

"He's waiting for someone special, sweetheart. And you are not."

She glares, tearing up a bit because _okay, alcohol made her act emotional_ and shoves him away.

"I know that!" She shouts, getting another drink (thank God for fake IDs and apathetic bartenders,) and making her way back into the heavy cloud of dancers.

She starts dancing again, and when a partner once again appears she doesn't know if it's Tyler, Reid, or just some stranger.

But when the hands feel comforting and the head murmurs soft-sounding words, she doesn't care.

She comes back to herself when she is in the car, under a warm arm with someone's chest as a pillow.

She notices how soft their shirt is, and briefly pets her pillow for thanks, then nods back off.

She wakes up when she's in her bed with a hangover, and curses whoever got her that fake ID.

* * *

"Hey, girl." Kate grins at her once Jen is awake, showered, and eyeing their bed greedily with the intent to get another day or two of sleep in.

"Hello." She nods at Kate and Sarah, then looks back at the bed.

"We're going to Amici's for lunch. You're coming with, right? We made Tyler bring a girl so it's a quadruple date."

"Tyler has a girl?"

"With no name or place in his heart, yes. Before you, Reid always had a girl, too. They're always a little dumb, a little blond at heart, and never mind that we never know their name."

"Ah." She feels a little depressed about the girls.

"It sounds a little messed up," Sarah says, "But sometimes they complain about all the double dates that me and Kate go on."

"They do?"

"If you ask me," Sarah says in a whisper, "Reid was always a little jealous of Caleb and Pogue."

"Caleb especially." Kate grins, giving Sarah a hip-check.

"I think they both really wanted a strong relationship with someone like we do, so they would always bring girls to our quadruple dates instead of just hanging out in a group like we normally do."

"You are painting them in a very pathetic light." Jen notes.

"But not as pathetic as what you're _wearing._" Kate says, looking up and down at Jen, "You're wearing pajamas!"

"No I'm not." Jen protests, "This is not what I slept in."

"Putting a cardigan over everything isn't disguising the truth. You are wearing a Snoopy shirt, sweats, and _uggs._"

"They're comfortable." Jen pouts.

"They're _ughs." _Sarah says.

"Uggslies." Kate adds.

"What do you want me to wear?" Jen glares, "I'll go out _naked _if you two will stop talking."

"I'll get one of Sarah's dresses."

"A _dress_?" Jen whines.

"Oh please, I've seen your closet. You are a dark-haired Taylor Momsen."

"You take that back!"

"What? Gossip Girl is wonderful!"

"And Madonna was my middle school God. I'd rather be Kelly Osbourne."

"Right... Anyway, where this sundress and these wedges. Look bohemian, not... sloth."

She looks at Kate, then the floral dress and the sunny wedges. Instead, she goes for Kate's closet and picks out a black skirt and white pumps.

"Hey, what was wrong with my selection?" Kate pouts.

"I am not Taylor Momsen_ or _Vanessa Hudgens." She complains, taking off her flip flops and sweats and donning Kate's clothes, tucking in the Snoopy shirt and glaring at Kate, "Snoopy is comforting."


	15. Wait

"Hello, I'm George. I'll be your server for today. Can I get any drinks for you guys?"

"Coffee." Is the unanimous decision, and Jen kicks off Kate's pumps and wriggles her toes as soon as her feet are out of view.

"A fuckton of it." She murmurs, and the waiter quirks his mouth.

"We're ready to order now." Caleb informs the server, and everyone goes about ordering their greasy lunches.

Until they get to Jen.

"An egg mcmuffin." She says tiredly, leaning a bit on her arm.

Kate snorts, "How about a caeser salad? Or atleast something on the menu."

"Is this how the upper half lives?" Jen asks in disbelief, "Nursing hangovers with _salads?_"

"Jennifer!" Sarah hisses.

"Oh, as if no one could tell. More than half a group of teenagers wearing sunglasses? Indoors?"

The waiter coughs politely, breaking up Jen's starting rant, "Four cheese lasagna with a side of italian sausage?"

She considers it.

"It's the greasiest we get, and I can get the chef to whip up some scrambled eggs with that."

"You are a godsend."

He collects the menus and leaves, and then Reid elbows Jen in the side.

"Ow! What?" She glares at him.

"I don't mean to be the chick in this relationship, but we need to talk."

She raises an eyebrow, but follows him anyway into the abandoned hallway leading to the bathrooms.

He swivels around, rather dramatically, and faces her with his phone displayed inches from her eyes.

"What the hell?" She hisses at him.

"Who is T.I.? Cause he sure as hell ain't rapping sweet love into my ears."

"What?"

"Some ex boy of yours? Cause it's got that same area code-408."

"Ti's been bothering you?"

"An insult, on the hour, every hour. All fucking day. I've considered blocking the number, but I'm really fucking curious who the fuck this fucker is. Ti, then, huh?"

"Yeah, Ti. You probably pissed him off with that text you sent."

"How'd he get my number, then?"

A logical question.

"I dunno. He's a hacker?"

"Of the supernatural proportions, it seems."

"Oh fuck you." She rolls her eyes, "What, are all Californians voodoo freaks? Don't be an asshole."

"Listen. Either make him stop on his own terms, or I'll use my own means to shut him up."

"What the hell can you do? You're just rich, you're not mafia-affiliated."

"There's something you have to learn about me." He hisses, stalking towards Jen and pinning her up against the wall, "I am filthy. Stinking. Rich. And I am _very, _very powerful. If I want something to happen, that shit is _going to happen._"

She's only intimidated for a second.

"But with things that require charm and intelligence, I have to look to the other brothers, right?"

"You make it hard for me to be nice." Reid warns.

"How arrogant and presumptuous you are." She breathes out, sounding a little weaker than she wanted.

"That's my little spitfire," He smirks, "I bet you could meet an _angel_ and scoff at how obnoxiously holy he thinks he is."

"Angels can be dicks, you know." She answers conversationally.

"And you're crazy to boot."

A cough interrupted them.

"Excuse me," Said the waiter from before, "I'm going to have to ask you to take your lover's spat outside. It's causing a disruption."

"A disruption? To who?" Reid demanded.

"Please, sir-" Jen noticed a vein in the man's eyebrow twitch.

"Please what? Please suck my _dick_." Reid was picking up a few sayings from Jen.

And the fight that ensues is how Jen was kicked out of a four star restaurant for the first time.

They are all sitting in the car, Kate looking especially put out, before Tyler's date asks where they're going now.

Jen never even noticed the girl was there. She is a horrible person, for being as quiet as the girl and not sensing her at all.

"Oh damn, she speaks." Reid snarks, and Tyler sends him a glare before smiling at the girl and muttering reassuring words to her.

Jen only has one thing to say.

"Egg mcmuffin."

And twenty minutes later they're all having a greasy junk food breakfast.

And Reid is attacking Tyler with his happy meal toy.

* * *

**A Text Conversation**

how did you get garwins number?

hey 2 y0u 2

im being serious

n 1 m srsly hurt

your spelling got worse

n m0r cnvnt

cnvwha?

CUNTvenient

hah youre so funny. now how did you get reid's number?

reid garwin huh

what?

yr bfs name reid garwin

hes not my boyfriend

orly

yarly

thas not what yr new school thinks

bitch whatchoo know about my new school?

0nly that erry1 thinks yr his grl

so youre harrassing him because of that?

cuz hes a dik

grow up, ti

suk a dik. i haet u.

really?

ti, come on.

fine. fuck you then.

* * *

When they get back to school there is a hush over the old building even more prominent than usual.

It takes the Ipswich brothers all of three minutes to find out what's happened through the gossip mill.

Tina is in the hospital.

She has overdosed on painkillers, and left a suicide note adressed to all of her "betrayers", telling them to go fuck themselves.

Tyler's date for the day, the blond who is sweet-looking, giggly, and overall quiet, is the first to react.

She glares at Jen.


	16. The Lottery

A/N: ALRIGHT. So someone was confused about the last chapter, so I put in a little summary of what the major events were of last chapter.

Everyone went out to eat at a pizza place, but got thrown out when Reid and Jen started arguing and got the waiter into it. It was revealed that her old friend from California, Titus (Ti), had gotten ahold of Reid's number through "magic" and had been harassing him through text. Jen confronts Titus, also through text, and finds out that Titus has been doing it because he thinks Reid is a dick. Big surprise.

But once they get back to school, they find that Tina is in the hospital! The very same Tina that has been making Jen's life a living hell. Because she's overdosed.

On with the story!

* * *

She is on the edge of the rooftop, locks and curfews be damned, staring down at the ground.

Fuck the ugly painful end, limbs sprawled out at unnatural angles, blood everywhere following that ugly snap she knew would come after flying through the air. She didn't care. Can't get anything down without a bit of pain, anyway. She'd die in a few seconds anyway.

"Don't be fucking stupid." An agitated voice demands from behind her.

Reid.

Always fucking _Reid_.

"What?" She snaps, not even bothering to look at him, "I'm enjoying the scenery."

"You're hilarious." He drawls, and she can practically feel the glare drilling into the back of her head, "Really."

"Thank you. Really."

"You're a fucking idiot, you know. How many times have you tried killing yourself? I don't even know why I fucking bother saying anything."

"I don't know either. It's not like I've said anything to _you_."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not the only self-destructive one on this rooftop."

"Now what are you getting at?"

"I overheard you and Caleb. What are you using? Pills? Not needles, obviously. That kind of shit is obvious when you bare all half the time in the pool." She shakes her head and almost laughs, but doesn't want to have that crazy laughter that turns into hysterics, "I may be fucked up in the head, but atleast I'm not in denial about it. Everyone else is dying slow and painful and it's _unbearable _to watch. I'm just getting it all over with."

"So some bitch O.D.s and you decide your life isn't worth living. Again."

"Because it's all my fault! Everything! She wouldn't be there if I wasn't _here_. Nobody would've gotten hurt!"

"Just you."

"It's fine if it's just me."

"Oh, you melodramatic _pussy_. Want a hug, baby?" 'Baby' comes out twisted and wrong, mocking her and making her feel worse.

"Shut the fuck up. So what if I'm melodramatic. I'm human. I'm _emoting_." She finally turns around and sneers at him, eyes blazing, "You have no idea how easy you have it. You're rich. You're one of the _privileged _ones. You have your brothers. Your bright and shiny future. I have no one. Nothing but whatever intelligence everyone thinks I have. Even growing up... You don't know what it's like to be alone. To have those shadows itching at you, eating you alive. It sticks. I am completely isolated. But if I die here, in this cesspit of humanity, I'll atleast be something, right? A statistic eventually, but a person. Or an image. Stuck with everyone, forever."

He stays quiet and stares at her, right in her soul.

"I didn't have sex with him." She confesses, "Like everyone thinks. Derek. Him and Tina, they were my closest friends when I first came here. Tina was my guide. She called me her second sister." She smiles past Reid, "We were all one big happy family. As long as we were all together. Tiny didn't like me hanging with Derek alone. Got jealous really easily." She laughs, bitter and harsh. "Derek's gay. Probably why Tina never felt the love. His closet is a fucking war room of epic proportions, but teenage boys have their hormones. I walked in on him. _Spoke _to him like the dork I am after the faceless whoever left. And of course Tina then walked in. Figures he'd rather be a cheating scumbag with the new girl instead of come out of the closet."

Reid is quiet for awhile.

"That was your big story?" He says finally, "Fuck that."

"Maybe I fucking _loved _that stupid fucking dick." She snapped, looking away from him, knowing how he would react. She couldn't handle his scorn—not when Derek was involved, because she already knew how stupid it was, her feeling like her heart was breaking every time she looked at him.

She was so_ stupid._

"Fuck this."

She steps back and off of the roof.

And looks up at the sky.

She wills herself to let go of all of the terror of the pain that was to come and instead focuses on the stars. All of the weight she had been carrying around with her flew off as she fell down, her spirit rising up, up, _up _towards the sky and setting her free.

She sees Reid, barreling straight towards her, and snaps back to reality. Panic sets in. A group suicide with Reid fucking Garwin was _not in the mix_. No, not at all, and as he grabbed hold of her she hit him as hard as she could for dying for her.

"You fucking-"

His eyes flash black, a fire burning at the center, swallowing everything, and they're in his room.

Alive.

On his bed.

"Hey, Reid. There's a _door, _you know." Tyler drawls before double taking at the sight of the two and dropping his books in shock, "What the hell, man! Caleb's gonna freak!" He frowns at them both, "Jen? Are you crying? Reid, what did you do?"

"Why are you assuming it's my fault!"

"Sorry, but I don't see anyone else that could've freaked her out as much as the guy who shifted her over from _god_ knows where and is _laying _on her no less."

He quickly moves off of her and she shakily stands up, composes herself, and runs from the door. Reid sprints after her and grabs onto her, spinning her around to glare right in her face.

"Running?" He asks, narrowing his bright, bright blue eyes. Nothing like the black it was before.

But she wasn't hallucinating. She was here, wasn't she? Not on the pavement with blood spilled out of various orifices.

"I'm in hell, aren't I?"

"I take offense to that." Reid huffed before spinning her back onto his bed.

"Did you tell her, or does she have no idea what we are?" Tyler asked, and the implied 'we' and 'what' frightened her.

"The Sons of Ipswich," She starts, holding her hands together to stop them from shaking, "The starting tag other then how _hot _you all are, is that you all have been around since the Salem Witch trials. Your family is worshipped as if we were still riding carriages instead of automobiles."

All of the strands of thought in her head were connecting and working as fast as her body would allow, "That demonic something was a real something. All those people dead... Were they actual witches? Or victims hung so your family could live on? That kid-Chase. He was friends with all of you and he disappeared. You're all satanic worshippers aren't you. I'm your sacrificial lamb for the year and I'm going to disappear like him oh God, you're going to bleed me dry just let me die in peace."

"Fuck, shut up. We're not going to kill you. And Chase was a murderous dick. Tried to kill all of us and everything."

"The Power has nothing to do with Satan." Tyler reassured, "We don't really know where they originated, but they've been passed down by the males in our families for generations."

"And using them is bad, so says Caleb." Jen said.

"Yes. Very bad. So don't tell him about what happened." Tyler rolled his eyes, "Whatever happened."

"Good. I won't. Goodbye." Jen stood up, hands still clasped, and then considered taking a swing at Reid when he pulled her down onto the bed yet again.

"The fuck!" She snapped.

"I told you, you're not going anywhere."

"I think she needs some time to herself." Tyler says warily, and Jen nods in support of his conclusion.

"I just saved her fucking life."

"And I'm sure she's very grateful. So let her go."

"Baby boy, you're not getting something."

Jen shot Reid a glare. He better not.

"I saved this psycho from herself."

"What?"

"She jumped off of the roof. I saved her. She hates me for it. She's a suicidal freak."

"That's not funny, Reid. Now let her go."

"Do I look like I'm laughing!" Reid yells, "I'm not letting her kill herself! I don't care if she's a little _uncomfortable_ in the process."

"Why the fuck not?" She finally snaps, ignoring the shocked look Tyler gives her. It didn't matter now, since Reid already ruined everything.

"Because I want you to be as smart as everyone always says you are." Reid sneers, not looking like he cared about her in the slightest. He was probably doing all of this for his sick pleasure, the sadist.

Satanist, actually.

She chokes on her anger that's more like a sob than anything, before whispering rather pathetically.

"Just let me die."

* * *

"Reid, can you leave us for a second?" Tyler asks, looking as serious as the brothers ever get.

"This isn't your conversation, Tyler." Reid frowns, his eyes warning him to back off.

The two go to the corner of the room, right by the door, and argue in whispers.

"Whatever you're trying to accomplish, Reid, it's _not working_. Let me talk to her, okay? Alone."

"Fuck that. Without me, she would've been dead _ages _ago."

"And she's still trying to kill herself. Let me just try something different, okay? _Please."_

The two have a silent battle with their eyes, and for a split second Jen wonders if they're telepathically linked. Stranger things have just happened.

"Fine! Fuck this."

Reid slams the door on his way out, and Tyler smiles at her and walks towards his own bed, motioning her toward him.

Jen is quick to comply. God knows what bacteria is swarming around her right now, being on Reid Garwin's bed.

She stands in front of him, a little awkward, eyes flickering towards the door every now and then until he grabs both of her hands in his own.

His skin is rough.

She avoided his eyes. She didn't want to think about his eyes going black, and she didn't want the conversation she knew was coming. If she acted normal, if she didn't cry anymore, he would let her go. He was kind enough for that.

"You don't have to tell me anything."

Like she _would._

"Just know that whatever you're trying to run away from," Her fists clench, but relaxes once she realizes he's still holding her. "It's not worth it. In all the world, there's only going to be one of you. You can't want to waste _that_."

She scoffs.

"Come on. You're too beautiful."

"I'm not beautiful." She insists. Only Derek had ever said she was beautiful, and that was only to flatter her enough that he could use her as one of his many beards.

"You are. And you're way too modest." He leans in, stands up and towers over her, and one of his hands move to cup her face.

She is confused. This was Tyler Simms touching her, the Brad Pitt of the school, the most sought after bachelor roaming the halls. And he was touching her. Calling her beautiful.

Smiling at her, the freak she was, the freak _he _really was, and it was as if none of the badness in their lives had really happened. He wasn't some satanic warlock and she wasn't some suicidal idiot.

He is Tyler Simms, and she is Jennifer Warren, and he thinks... she's beautiful?

"I'm going to kiss you now, if you'll let me." He says shyly, giving her a smile that's the farthest thing from shy she's ever seen.

"I'm not special." She warns.

"Well, that's just a downright lie." He says, and brushes his lips with hers.

A jolt of electricity goes up her spine and shoots to her lips, dancing on her mouth and making her face warm. He's looking at her as if asking for permission to kiss her again, and _God _she wants him to.

So she grabs the back of his head and dives right in.

* * *

A/N: So we're going all in right now!

I know all of you Reid fans are just steaming at the smooches with Tyler, but no worries. Reid will make a very strong comeback.


	17. Shake Me Down

It's the middle of the night and the school is quiet except for two boys out by the shed. It's an abandoned tool shed that'll be torn down within the month but until then it was every student's dream spot for breaking curfew.

Jen is asleep in Tyler's bed. The window is bolted shut, the door locked from the outside, all sharp objects confiscated, but she doesn't know any of this. She doesn't know that once he left, he had doubled back twice to check on her. Just in case.

Reid had been on the roof of the shed for hours before Tyler found him. He had cheap beer from who knows where, broken glass littering the overgrown grass around him, because cheap beer broke easily when thrown angrily to the ground. Tyler wasn't sure it was the right time to talk to Reid, but if he let it go for too long there would never be a time to talk to Reid at all. About anything. Because Reid would ignore him for the rest of their lives.

He waits for Reid to hop down before talking to him so that he can't throw any cheap beer at him, and Reid's sneakers are loud on the broken glass. Tyler is completely honest with Reid, and tells him everything that needs to be said, because Reid is his brother, his violent angry brother, and Ipswich men are nothing if not loyal.

With every word Tyler says, he feels Reid getting angrier and angrier, and by the time he gets to the part where Jen is asleep in their room (he omits the part where Jen is in his bed, because honestly it doesn't need to be said,) Reid snaps.

"So instead of talking to her, you just made out with her." Reid sums up.

His arms are crossed and he has his battle face on, the one he usually saves for fights with Caleb. Tyler feels a bit like he's in the shit now, but at the same time he has his battle face on too. It's rarely used, because he rarely fights with his brothers, but he tries to look as serious and indignant as he can despite the lack of practice.

"I spoke to her." Tyler frowned.

"And then fucked her?"

"You know I didn't. I just.. Shit, I just _care _about her, Reid."

"You're _spoiling _her." Reid sneers, "How can she do shit when she has you for a crutch, pretty boy?"

"She needs people." Tyler argues in the most obnoxious Caleb-voice he can muster. It raises Reid's hackles and has him quick to snap back.

"But not a full on reclining chair with a vibrate setting built in. She's _never_ going to survive this way."

"Are you saying that you don't depend on anyone, Reid? We've never been without each other for more than a week. We're a _coven, _for God's sake. You need people around you to live, and she doesn't have anybody."

"And when we're gone? She's just going to try again and you know it."

"I don't believe that." He said decidedly, "She's stronger than that."

"Fuck that. She loses some faggotty ass friend and she's offing herself left and right. You think that's strong?"

"I think that she needs my help."

"Right, right. _Your _help. She's _my _girlfriend, baby boy. Remember that."

"Girlfriend? That's rich."

"Got something to say?"

Now would have been the time to bow down. Everyone called Reid out on his shit, but Tyler never did. And Tyler knew a hell of a lot more shit Reid was involved in than anyone else, and he never judged. Ever. He even partook in some of the shit. But if Tyler turned on him now, a line would be crossed.

But hell, Tyler was a little pissed too.

"You know what? Yeah, I do. You aren't in a relationship with her, Reid. Or if you are, then it's an abusive one at best. You saw her at a low point, and then instead of helping her you decided to mock and ridicule her and make everything a hell of a lot worse."

"And what are _you_ going to do? Kiss all her wounds better? Play 'There's a Therapist in my Pants?'"

"I'm going to try and help her." Tyler sighs.

"So this is just you and your need to be the nice guy? Help, help, help. That's all you're going on about. You don't even care about _her_, do you?"

"I've cared about her a hell of a lot longer than you, Reid."

Reid's eyes narrow and his face turns into an ugly sneer.

"Oh, so you're not being the nice guy. You're being selfish."

"No, that's you. I'm the nice one."

"No, no. We're not doing this. I'm just being regular old Dick Garwin. You, however, are being a sneaky son of a bitch." He let out a harsh laugh that had Tyler wincing for a half a second, "Of course nice guy Simms wouldn't let his dick friend blackmail a chick into dating him. No, he's like the second Caleb. He's too good to let that nasty business go on."

"Reid-"

"Unless, of course, he's liked this chick for awhile now. But he's Tyler fucking Simms. He doesn't _approach _chicks. Girls are always on his dick, he never goes out of his way for one. Doesn't know how. Cause Nice-Guy-Simms has always been clueless when it comes to chicks he likes. And he does like the fucked up ones, doesn't he."

"Shut up, Garwin."

"So when his lady love gets stringed into a relationship with his best friend, what an opportunity! He gets to spend time with her, slowly work his charm on her, and it's not like he has to worry about her falling for the dick. I mean, it's _Reid, _who ever cares about _him_?"

"Shut up!"

"And better yet, she's a sad little fuck desperate for even a hint of a little love. I mean, as long as Tyler is the one that shows it first, he's golden. Cause what else does he have going for him? He's not the bad boy, the biker, hell, he's only second in kindness cause the leader's got him beat. Desperate girl is fucking _easy _pickings."

A wave of energy rolls out from him and Reid flies back into the wall.

Reid glares and Tyler can feel the heat ripple around him in anger, his eyes flashing black for a second before finally he yells in anger and throws a fist into the abused wall. Through the wall.

They don't even bother with words or black eyes from that point.

Their fists are enough.

* * *

A single beam of sunlight is what wakes Jen up. It should be small enough to be inconsequential, but the very fact that is right on her eye is what really bothers her enough to wake from her dreamless sleep. She feels rested, as if a huge weight has been lifted, but it might also be that she had spent last night crying her body weight in tears.

She then realizes that she spent last night crying her body weight in tears and she doesn't remember going back to her room. Her eyes open too quickly, giving her a headache that quickly gets rid of whatever rested feeling she had, and swears up a sailor's storm as she realizes she's in a strange boy's bed that she had spent a good amount of time kissing.

"I am a whore." She decides aloud, and then promptly decides she should never verbally announce things to herself alone in a room again.

If she were to verbally announce things again, though, she would declare that her face was most likely swollen from last night's activities. She never could tell if her eyes were ever puffy from crying or not, but she was always paranoid about it. Paranoid to the point where she needed a mirror, but apparently the boys dorms didn't have mirrors. Because they were useless.

She decided she might as well get up if the sun was shining and her face needed a mirror and possibly a thorough scrubbing. The room was abandoned, apparently, which meant it was probably past breakfast too. All the more easier for her to sneak out of the room.

With a locked door.

The door to the room was locked, and how was that possible when she was on the inside? She jiggled the doorknob again, just for good measure, knocked her shoulder against it a few times, and kicked it. Then cursed when she stubbed her toe against the wood.

Was she imprisoned?

She glanced quickly around the room. No, no, she wasn't that desperate. She couldn't. Oh fuck it, yes she could. Jen practically ran to the window and tugged on it with all the finger power she had. It didn't budge. The lock wouldn't budge. Nothing budged.

This wasn't happening.

She couldn't deal with this. She was living off of denial right now, and she couldn't be here when Reid decided to swagger through those doors, and Tyler was a sweetheart but he seemed like the type who talked about problems and wanted to 'confront situations' and stupid shit like that she didn't want to deal with.

"Already at the nearest window, emo? It's only the third floor, I doubt you're going to be known as much more than that dumbass bitch who broke her leg mimicking that dumbass pillpopping bitch."

Reid is leaning against the door.

"How did you-the door is locked-I didn't hear you-" More concepts she wanted to stay in denial of, if she wasn't hallucinating completely last night, "Fuck that I don't want to know. Just let me out."

"...Nah."

She glares at him.

"Let me out."

"Nope." He makes his point by sliding down the door until he's nice and comfortable, legs crossed, smirking at her with a cut lip and a bruise on his jaw and-

"Is that a bite mark on your _ear_?"

"Your boyfriend fights like a chick."

"Don't do that. Just let me out and let me forget you and everyone related to you ever spoke to me."

"You're forgetting my bargaining chip that started this whole shit, Jenny. You're not my girlfriend, and I tell everybody about your suicide binge."

"Fuck you, Reid. As if anybody would believe you. Where's your proof? What makes you different from any other fucking ex who wants revenge?"

The two glare for awhile.

"So you're going to exchange me for my best friend."

"Don't say it like that." She says, recoiling as if he physically wounded her, "You know it's nothing like that."

"Oh, it isn't?"

"I have a choice with him!"

"Cry me a fucking river."

"See? There! Again! I can't handle fighting everybody all the time!"

"Whatever. Just get out."

"Reid, I don't-" She starts.

"Just get out!" His eyes flash back and she's out in the hallway and his door is slamming shut behind her.

She runs to her room.

* * *

A/N: Once again, I am too tired to proofread.


	18. Teenage Dirtbag

It's in the hallway, five days later, that Kate finally manages to catch up.

"Jennifer Warren. You stop _right _where you are this second or I swear to god I will tackle your little white ass!"

"Uh, hi there... Kate... Didn't see you there."

"Like hell you didn't. You've been avoiding everyone for a week now. As if you could get rid of us that easily."

Kate herds Jen outside of the school and to a secluded corner near the forest whilst simultaneously texting Sarah to let her know where they were.

"What? You're crazy." Jen denies halfheartedly, her voice sounding overly dramatized in the beginning before becoming monotone.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now what's up? Reid's been a total bitch since you and Tyler have been AWOL. Wait. Don't answer that. No, yes, answer that, explain to me what's happened."

"Explain?"

"Yeah, why you left Reid for Tyler. I mean, I know Tyler's a total sweetheart and Reid's kind of sleazy, but if you were attracted to Tyler, how could you even go for Reid in the first place?"

"I didn't plan on it."

"It'd be sleazy if you did."

"I know."

They stood in silence for awhile, Kate looking at Jen expectantly. So Jen gave in and told Kate what she wanted to hear.

"Reid's a little more... open about his dark side." Jen hinted heavily, not wanting to outright say that Reid scared the shit out of her with his black eyes.

Kate grew serious very quickly, and Jen was about to breathe a sigh of relief and gush to her like a soap opera character when Kate interrupted.

"Does he... Hit you? I mean, I never thought Reid-I mean, he's an idiot but such a sweetheart when you get down to it-"

"What? No! He doesn't hit me. Didn't. Ever." Jen shook her head. So she doesn't know, "Tyler just gives more of a shit about me."

Kate sighs.

"Honey, I don't mean to send you into a crisis, but I'm pretty sure Reid cares more about you then he does the whole school. Not counting his Ipswich boys."

"Which is still less then half of the caring Tyler holds for me." She shakes her head at what she just said. Grammatically, it made no sense, but Kate appeared to be nodding her head thoughtfully.

"But that doesn't mean you have to be awkward around us, does it? I mean, honestly, I wouldn't have gone for either of those boys. Its a thing for the Ipswich boys to be disturbingly close to one another, but Tyler and Reid really take the codependent cake."

Jen raises an eyebrow.

"I've never, up until this week, seen the two separated from each other." Kate insists.

"Pogue and Caleb?" Sarah asks as she approaches, quickly integrating herself in the conversation.

Jennifer withdraws more into the tree as Kate explains which Ipswich duo she was referring to, and the two chat for a little about all of the boys and their dependence on each other and wasn't it strange that Tyler was drifting away from the group? Not that Jennifer wasn't worth it, it was just not like him.

Then Sarah asked to speak to Jennifer in private, and Kate huffed a bit but eventually resigned herself and claimed she needed a latte to warm her up.

"Listen, Jen, I know." Sarah starts of ominously, and Jen eyes her warily.

"Know what?"

"About, you know, the flashing black eyes?"

Jen stayed silent for a moment.

"How did you find out?" Her voice cracks and she flushes from the embarrassment.

"Caleb saved my life from this other black magic man who was trying to kill me and take all the other brother's powers."

"How chivalrous of him."

"Life isn't a joke that you can just make fun of to get by, Jen. This is serious. I need to know if we can trust you or not."

"Can you trust Kate?"

"That's Pogue's decision, not mine."

"Where was my decision? I might as well tell everyone about your freaky ass black magic."

"But you haven't."

"As if they'd fucking believe me. That shit is crazy. I'd be insane to believe it myself."

"Then why are you with Tyler now? Why be with any of them? They're all Sons of Ipswich."

"Because."

Because Tyler doesn't use.

Because now, now that she really thinks about it, there are inconsistencies she's now noticing that's surrounded her time with Reid. Little improbable things, _impossible _even, that seem to happen just around him. How sometimes, when something nasty would happen to someone for no reason, Caleb would glare at him for laughing along with everyone else.

Because whenever she thinks of him, she thinks of apathetic blue eyes turning pitch black and plummeting through the air.

Whenever she thinks of him, she thinks of pain.

"I know you have a few issues to work out. But soon you'll realize that Caleb and Pogue and everyone else... They're not people you should worry about."

"Cause they're the do-gooders. Right."

"I'm just saying that it's okay to be a little freaked out by it. But just think of them as, I dunno, the X-Men or something."

"You want me to think of them as mutants?"

"Well, y'know, like superheroes or something."

"You'd have been better off making a Harry Potter reference. Now I'm just picturing them in spandex."

* * *

"Hey Mrs. Simms." Pogue calls out to thin air before remembering she was in Bermuda until the next month. He quickly ascends the stairs, two, three steps at a time, and walks the path all the brothers have subconsciously memorized leading to each other's rooms.

"Baby boy."

A knock on the door.

A groan.

"Baaaaby. I've got you your _medicine._"

The door slams open and Pogue is dragged inside Tyler's room. Tyler quickly runs out of energy and sags back in his bed, curling into the fetal position and clutching his stomach.

"Come on, baby boy, that's no way to treat a guest. I've got your Gas-X right here."

Tyler groans and reaches out blindly, hoping to hit Pogue and shut up his stupid laughter and get the medicine at the same time.

"You've always had the soft stomach of the group." Pogue reminisces, "Remember when we all went to Disney World for the first time? God, you must have thrown up enough to flood a small world."

"Fckyouu." Tyler groans.

"So what was it this time, those spinning tea cups?"

"Shutupp."

"Come on. I went out and got this for you. The least you could do is tell me why."

Tyler glared at Pogue before shoving him out of the way and rushing to the bathroom.

"Wow, that's some fast-acting shit."

* * *

J's cornered as she's unlocking the door to her dorm, a lanky arm donned in baggy sleeves blocking her way and capturing her attention, and fuck it's Reid.

"How's Baby Boy treating you?" He asks, leering while he looked down at her.

"Terrifically."

"Really? How are you treating him, then? Cause I hear he's holed up in his house with a tummy ache."

Jen frowns. Tummy ache?

"I'm treating him fine." She says, opening the door and attempting to close it before he can slide his way in. He makes his way inside regardless.

"How's he treating _you, _then?" He sits at her vanity, crossing his legs and looking up expectantly at her.

"Fine."

He rolls his eyes, "Don't bore me now, sweetness."

"Leave, then." She goes to her closet, deliberately facing away from him, and rummages through it for her sweats. How was she going to change with him there?

"How can I when I know how interesting you are underneath all of that sweetheart boringness?"

"Sweetheart boring- I'm sorry, Garwin, that normal human relationships are so trivial for you."

"Come on. We're better than that."

"Better than human? What are _you_?" She shook her head, "Don't answer that question."

Reid approaches her, corners her so that she can hide in the closet if she were really that much of a coward. She's considering it. She pictures his eyes going black as he leans his head down to look right at her. But this is Reid. Stupid, arrogant, blond, wannabe-skater Reid. He wouldn't hurt her.

"_We're _better than _normal_." He stresses, and she wishes that he would smirk so that she could pretend he doesn't mean a word, "I know that there's some bit in your head that makes you think you're not enough. But you are. You're _more _than enough."

The closet is looking pretty good now.

"And once you get that through your _thick, stupid skull," _Two fingers lift up and point at her temple, the thumb cocking as if his hand is a gun, "That you're fucking gorgeous, in and out, that shebang. You'll be unstoppable."

He kept reading off of Tyler's script.

She slipped in and shut the closet door.

* * *

"Don't tell Jennifer."

"Cross my heart."

"It's just.. I mean, I care about her, so much, but..."

"But..?"

"I can't handle it. I mean, my stomach feels like it's been dipped in acid then rubbed in lemon juice! First it's Thai, then Indian, then Korean, I don't know what she's going to think of next!"

Pogue laughs so hard that he almost falls to the ground. Instead he just collapses in Tyler's chair.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!"

"No, I promised I wouldn't tell Jen. Oh, this is too good. This is like the first time we had sushi, and Reid told everyone that green stuff was pistachio shit."

"And you ate it with a straight face!"

"Because my stomach's a solid rock, and yours is a little fluff of cotton candy." He smiles, reminiscing, "You cried for hours."

"She carries hot sauce with her everywhere."

"This is golden. You managed to fall for someone who is the complete opposite of you, who just so happened to be Reid's girl at the time. Not to mention that Reid managed to keep a girl for more than a week."

"Don't talk about that."

"Right. You two are still pretending to be mad at each other."

"Pretending! Do you know what he did?"

"Am I Caleb? Do I care?"

"...No."

"Right then. So buck up, tell Jen that you get indigestion from anything as spicy as Nick's nachos, and tell Reid you love him and want to be with him forever. Got it?"

"Got it." Tyler pouts.

Pogue ruffles his head.

* * *

Reid shoves open the closet door and glares down at her.

"He's not dangerous enough for you, babe."

"Oh, and you're just the right kind, Malfoy?"

"Emily the Strange isn't in Harry Potter."

"Fuck you."

"Lydia? From Beetlejuice."

"Fuck you even more."

"That chick from NCIS."

"Why do you keep trying?"

"Wednesday Addams."

"Shut up."

"Marilyn Manson. Final offer."

"Dita von Tesse."

"Dita had an ass."

"Fuck you."

"That's what I keep saying!"

"... Get out."


	19. Bleed Like Me

"You know, I don't even know why you still come here." A snarky voice comments from behind, and the tittering that follows tells Jen that she is surrounded. Fuck.

She bites off the snarky comment, the '_I haven't hollowed out my insides and replaced it with pure bitch, so I still go to the bathroom to piss, not look at myself in the mirror,'_ that is sure to rile her captors to the point where they wouldn't care about visible marks, repercussions, and would just lay into her until she was broken. Instead she turns, quietly, maintaining eye contact and wondering if it'll have the same effect it would on a particularly hostile dog.

She half-recognizes the girl, sure that the two have interacted relatively near each other, maybe said a word or two that the other might hear, but for the life of her she couldn't remember the girl's name.

"I mean, you _really _have some nerve, even showing your face at school. If you didn't belong before, well, now everyone knows you're no better than the Public trash that hang around Nicky's whoring themselves out to our men."

Was the classist bitchiness directly correlated to how few men she was able to keep? Maybe she didn't hate Jen, really, but only used her for the anger she held towards their common enemy; man.

These thoughts weren't helping. Humanizing her oppressor didn't affect the mutual disdain the two felt for each other, victim and bully. The mouse still hated the cat whether it was swiped at from boredom and hunting reflexes or a daddy complex and a broken heart. She was still going to get her ass kicked.

She detaches herself from the situation by musing on the size of toilets. They really make it far too big, when the anatomical bits and pieces of humanity were so small in comparison. It could go half, at least, and everyone would be fine with the switch. Maybe some would have to maneuver themselves, though, and wouldn't that be a bitch to advertise. The inconveniently sized toilet.

Atleast the toilet would be ass-sized, rather than head-sized.

Her ears are filled with water, ringing slightly, but she can hear a muffled slam, the sound of shouting, and it is with rough hands that she is lifted onto her feet, rubbing her back as she coughs.

"You girls are really fucking _stupid _if you think you can do shit like this and I won't get angry."

"Reid! W-We were just-"

"Dunking baby girl's head in the fucking toilets. I have fucking spidey senses, don't try this shit with me." Reid takes a second to glare at each of them, and they seem to shrink in on themselves, "Just be lucky Tyler didn't see this shit, and that you fucking shits are so faceless I don't even remember your names."

Tyler fangirls. Makes sense.

A whimper. Maybe some Reid fangirls too.

"So get the _fuck _out of my sight before I decide it's worth remembering any of you."

They scramble out of the bathroom, and Jen realizes that she has been comfortably nestled under his arm she was rescued, and God she hated that she had to be rescued in the first place, and that neither seemed inclined to move anytime soon.

She hated that she wanted to be held.

"How did you know?" Jen asks after she shakes off the feeling of getting lost in the hand rubbing the small of her back.

"Spidey senses."

"Don't feed me bullshit."

He exhales, and with it comes the serious side of Reid she wasn't expecting.

"You stood Tyler up."

"What?"

"Tyler's supposed to be taking you out to dinner. You never met him."

Shit. It had really been that long? When she went to the bathroom, she had atleast twenty minutes before she was expected at Tyler's car.

"So he has all the Ipswich brothers out on the lookout?"

"He thinks you stood him up. He's giving you _space_."

Jen frowns.

"What, sad that Baby Boy didn't swoop in the bathroom in his shining armor? Sorry to disappoint."

"Shut up."

"You always tell me that, but do I ever shut anything? Think of something new already."

"How did you know to come to this bathroom? The school is huge."

He smirked. "I can see through walls."

She decided to ignore the implications of him seeing through walls. She was very good at living in denial, and she chose to deny what he just said. Onto another question then.

"How come you knew but he didn't? You both have the same-" She gestured at her eyes, "He should know too."

"He thinks you're a sad little baby bird that hasn't grown into her wings."

She blinks.

"I think you're a broken ass bird that the kids like to prod to see if it'll do anything."

"Flattering." Her voice is flat, and so dry that it cracks at the end.

"Ain't my fault the only time you're on fire is when you're trying to burn me."

"What flowery shit have you been watching? The poetic metaphors are a bit excessive." She rolls her eyes, "I'm supposed to be the one with the mass levels of estrogen, right?"

She realizes they're still in a somewhat compromising position when his hand gravitates upward, barely touching her arm along the way and sending sparks into her skin. Fingers rest on her cheek and drag up until he is cradling her head.

"Shut up." He smirks, mocking her, and his eyes flash black briefly. She jumps, putting at least three feet between them, because she doesn't care if she _knows the truth _or whatever, that is scary ass black magic. She has the right to be terrified of his darkness, all the Ipswich darkness, no matter what the guilty lurch in her stomach tells her when she sees how his blue look sad, briefly, at the reaction to his black eyes.

"You're welcome." He sneers.

Her hair is dry.

"I..." The concept of saying 'thank you' to Reid Garwin was nauseating. But what else was there to do in this situation? "Do you always use black magic in such a nonchalant manner?"

He laughs, mumbling words intermixed with 'black magic' and a scoff of amusement to end his outburst, "Is that what I have? Black magic voodoo?"

She gives him a frustrated look, and he sighs. He was in for a rant.

"It seems to be hereditary, seeing as you all talk as if it had been a part of your lives forever. And your families had ties together as long as you all had money, which only adds to the idea. And if it was voodoo, I doubt it would've been granted to some scrawny white folks when so many cooler cultures have been culturally immersed in such practices ages longer than you have. So what am I supposed to call it? Devil magic? I'm not an old man from the 1800s. And I'm a Santana fan."

"I forget. You read and shit." He rolls his eyes, "Just think of me as fucking Merlin with a trust fund."

"You don't want to be Arthur?"

"Caleb can be Arthur. No, wait, there was a badass wasn't there. Who killed Arthur?"

"Mordred. You want to be Arthur's son?"

"What? Fuck that shit. I'll be Magneto."

"That doesn't even make sense, unless you're a political terrorist that wants to overthrow humanity and everyone thinks you're evil."

"Then I'm too cool to be compared to anyone."

Jen scoffed.

"So what was the head bitch's name?"

"What?"

"The chick who swirlied you like an asthmatic nerd who refused to do the football team's homework."

"Oh." She looked away. "I don't remember."

Reid snorted.

"Can I go now?" She's getting fidgety.

"Since when did you bother to ask?"

She gets flustered, calls him a bitch, and stumbles out of the bathroom.

* * *

When she gets back to her room, she has four missed calls, two unread voicemails, and three texts. Four, three, two, and it was a little pointless but she always was the one to notice pointless things like that.

'wat do u think of chinese'

'im on my way'

"_Hey. This is Tyler. Just wondering where you are."_

_"Hey, me again. Tyler. Did something come up? I'll be in my room if you get this."_

_'_got t8k out. pizza if u want sum.'

She felt like a horrible person, but in her defense it wasn't her fault at all.

Now how to articulate that into words without telling him what happened, and without lying?

* * *

As soon as Reid barely hears the meekest fucking knock on the door, he knows Jen has come to make nice with Baby Boy.

He sneers and the hackysack he's been tossing up and down is tossed towards Tyler's head as he goes to get the door.

"Real mature, Reid."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Wanna hand that back?"

Tyler's eyes flash black and the hackysack flies at Reid. He catches it, making sure to stick out his middle finger in the process. He only winces a little bit at the force behind the throw.

"Jen! Um, hey."

Reid could just imagine the nervous and shy expressions they were exchanging. Like they were back in grade school and Tyler would pick the pretty girl a flower and then Reid would come from behind and pull down Tyler's pants and run away and that happened a lot in grade school didn't it.

"Hi."

"There's only a slice left. I couldn't keep Reid away."

"What?"

"The pizza."

"Oh, right."

And now an awkward silence. Baby Boy is probably too afraid of her emotions to ask her why she was late, and Baby Girl probably is too afraid of both of their emotions to try and talk around what happened. He felt like throwing popcorn at them both.

"You both are boring me." He complained.

"Only because you rely on others to entertain you." Jen snaps back, "So maybe you should become a little more interesting."

"Ooh, ouch." Reid chuckles, tossing her the hacksack that she caught almost too casually. He didn't know she had reflexes. Maybe she even played a sport, once upon a time.

"Reid," Tyler sighs, and Reid frowns at how exhausted he sounds. What does Tyler have to be tired from?

"Tyler," Reid mimics in the same, long, drawn-out sigh. He shoulders past the two, "I'm going to go and get more interesting. Have fun staring at each other.


	20. Heart's a Mess

"Hey, sit on this for me, will you?"

Jen plants herself on the hard plastic suitcase as Kate drags the zipper all the way around, getting uncomfortably close to Jen's face as she talks about some crazy thing her one cousin did last Christmas break.

"Alright. Done packing. Do you need help?" Kate asks.

"Huh?"

"Are you done packing?" Kate slows down her speech, trying to spell it out clearly.

"No..." Jen drags her words out longer than Kate did, "I don't have a reason to pack."

"Oh..." Kate looks around, very uncomfortable, pats Jen on the cheek, and then quickly changes the subject, "So, how's Tyler treating you?"

Jen maintains her blank expression.

"Peachy."

Kate quickly gets back into their assumed dynamic.

"That's it? Come on, you're the first girl I've ever seen Tyler with, and you're not even going to tell me anything? Me, your loving friend?"

"I'm sure that you can tell it better."

"But I don't even know what to tell!"

"Isn't that the whole point of gossip? Just say what you want."

"You're no fun, you know that?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Her dry tone wasn't apologetic at all.

* * *

_Suicide Attempt #1_

_Horrid. Apparently an overdose of unlabeled motion sick pills sent over from your loving aunt do nothing other than give you a very bad stomach ache and fainting spells. Am now labeled weak along with skanky. Peachy._

_[note]_

_Found out they were ginger pills, apparently. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone who's died from it yet._

_Breath stinks._

_Suicide Attempt #2_

_Highly uneventful. Snuck to the top of the roof, got caught by the janitor (who was smoking skunk-smelling cigarettes, also known as weed) and we both agreed to look the other way. He thought that I was up there to smoke too, and offered me a joint._

_Also found out I'm afraid of heights. Or imagining the splatter noise and awkwardly placed broken limbs. Either way, jumping will not be the cause of my death._

_Also found out that the janitor is pretty fun to hang around. Very well-read._

_And that I am extremely pathetic._

_Suicide Attempt #3_

_Attempted slicing my wrist, but could only bare to make a scratch on the surface. Am squeamish when it comes to imagining pain, apparently. Maybe water will help. Water is calming._

_Suicide Attempt #4_

_Epic disaster. Dipstick fucker ruined everything. Acted like a complete jackass._

_Maybe I should make it into a murder-suicide._

_Suicide Attempt #5_

_Janitor wasn't there to smoke me out this time, so tried jumping off the roof._

_Reid was there though._

_Apparently he's the devil child._

_So yeah._

_Suicide is gonna be difficult with black magic getting in the way._

* * *

_Witch Boys_

_Sons of Ipswich. whats in ipswich?_

_-Salem Witch Trials (of course)_

_-relation to John Proctor? who else was in the trials other than winona ryder?_

_-Danvers is everywhere, influentially, but is only old money here. Danvers, Massachusetts, isn't even named after him. It was some dude with the first name Danvers. Ipswich was settled in 1630, Salem witch trials blew up in 1690. Five families settling Ipswich, four prominent families by the time the 18th century rolls around. Don't have the patience for genealogy research. Probably insignificant. Only thing it proves is that some event (probably the witch trials) affected the colonizers._

_-theory=salem witch trials were after real magic. that was real. but it spiraled out of control and only got inconsequential women, instead of the men with the real power. every feminist inch of my body is feeling betrayed by that last statement._

_ +conspiracy? what if all of the actual witches were men? did the men__ deflect all of the suspicion onto the women? Was it because of misogyny that the real witches were able to escape?_

_ to research: what part of england did the black magic families come from? (also mythology surrounding that region, etc.)_

* * *

Reid flipped through the rest of the little black book, seeing nothing but empty pages. He snapped it shut, gingerly placing the broken lock of the diary back on. His eyes flashed black and the lock was fixed.

There.

Untouched.

"So stupid." He sighs to himself, falling down onto Jen's bed. There wasn't _any _useful information in Jen's diary at all. Just all of her stupidity, and a worrisome amount of speculation about their powers.

He entertained the possibility of blackmail. If he was an unreliable witness because of his personal connection to her, this could be something to back it up. She would be kicked out on the spot. Spenser Academy hadn't had a suicide in decades, they couldn't have a scholarship girl ruining their reputation. Plus all that stuff about magic? She might even be institutionalized.

His stomach lurched. Was he hungry? He looked at his watch. Jen could only bear to stay in Kate's presence for an hour at a time, so she should be back in five... four... three... two...

The doorknob rattled.

His eyes flash black once again and he falls onto his bed.

"Reid, you _gotta _start using the door." Tyler's familiar voice groans.

He takes a second to get his bearings and then nods.

"Alright, I'll start now." And with that, he gets up and walks out of the room the two shared.

Tyler shakes his head.

Reid adopts his best saunter to make his way down the halls, leering at every passing student, male or female.

A pair, girl and boy, walked past. The girl glared. The boy winked.

This school was so backwards.

* * *

"It's awkward." Kate complained, pretending to write something important down. She flipped a few pages in her textbook and peered over at Sarah's notes.

"Only because you're making it awkward." Sarah replies absentmindedly, adjusting her notes so Kate could get a better look at them, "What time is your flight?"

"I don't have to leave for another four hours. She, however, is not leaving at all. She's going to be all alone here on Christmas. Even _you're_ going home."

"I live within driving distance. Of course my family is expecting me home. We only have a few weeks off, and she lives all the way in California. It's unreasonable to fly there and back again."

"Really? Is that the real reason?"

Sarah sighs. Kate wouldn't be able to finish her work before she left.

"What are you implying?

"I mean, when does she ever talk about her family? Or friends back in California? Or, like, anything about herself? At all?"

"You just answered your own question. She's not the type to talk about her life at all."

"But she's going to be all _alone _here on Christmas."

"Repeating yourself isn't going to help."

"And neither is her being alone on Christmas."

"The brothers will be here."

Kate gives Sarah a look.

"The brothers will be off having dinner with their families in their spacious intimidating houses. And where will Jen be? Here, with these ugly bitches judging her every move?"

Sarah is quiet for a moment.

"The brothers won't leave her on her own. They're not that stupid."

"They mean well, but you know how self-involved they are. Jen needs a feminine touch in her life."

"I'm surprised Pogue can _handle_ your feminine touch."

* * *

Jen was reading when she was interrupted by someone knocking at her door persistently. She ignored it. It was still bright enough that she didn't have the light on, so maybe whoever was trying to bother her would think she wasn't there and give up.

The knocking persisted.

"In a second." She mutters, and slowly makes her way to the door to let her intruder in.

She opened the door, then quickly regretted it.

"Reid, what are you doing here? Aren't there innocent lives you could destroy?"

"Innocence is way too easy here. You're more of a challenge." He muscled his way past and hopped onto her bed, crossing his arms behind his head and smirking at her.

"And what are you hoping to achieve?"

"Adultery, probably."

"Neither of us are married."

"Oh, good, so it's harmless." The smirk he sent her was devilish.

"Yeah. Harmless, especially since we're not going to do anything."

"Because every feminist inch of your body is telling you it's wrong?"

"My body doesn't have to be a feminist for me to tell you no."

"Take me out to dinner."

"No."

"But it's my birthday."

"No, it's the friday before christmas."

"And my birthday. I'm a christmas baby." Reid rocks back and forth on his heels and grins at her, "I'd show you my ID, but I only have my fake on me. We're getting some cocktails tonight."

"Why do I have to take you out, though? What about your brothers?"

"They can suck a dick. It's my birthday, I get to have what I want. And I want dinner with you."

The sentiment in her was creeping up and she narrowed her eyes.

"No funny business. Just dinner."

"I was born at 11:11 pm. No funny business until the night is almost over."

"Okay, now you're bullshitting me."

"Come to my house, I'll show you the birth certificate."

"The feeling of dread I get from thinking about your house outweighs my curiosity to see if you're lying to me."

"Touche. I'll be back in an hour. Dress up in something sexy, we're going five stars."

"Like, five stars on yelp?"

"Like, cocktail dress and suit."

"Sounds stuffy for a Reid Garwin birthday."

"Casual suit."

"With fingerless gloves?"

"Casual dress shirt."

"And jeans?"

"Alright. I'll take you to one of those fucking hole in the walls."

"Five stars on yelp." She gives him a tiny smile.

His stomach lurches again.

"I'll be back in an hour."

He uses the door this time.

* * *

author's note: guess who's back! sorry about the wait, and thank you to everyone who's still actually reading this. Hopefully the chapter is up to par, because I am too lazy for proofreading.


	21. Time to Dance

_One Week Ago  
_

_It took Pogue Parry twenty minutes to track Reid to the roof of the pool in order to interrogate him. He could probably sense it the moment Pogue wanted to find him, and zapped himself up to the last place he would think to look for the blond menace just to make things difficult for him. It seemed like a Reid thing to do, at least when Caleb was involved, and since Pogue was closest to Caleb out of the four, it seemed like something Reid would do to him through association._

_"What are you planning?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"You haven't done anything shitty for ages. You didn't flood the courtyard with moldy pumpkins on Halloween, or the day after, fuck, Thanksgiving is coming up and nothing from you. This time last year you were this close to being expelled," The two fingers Pogue lifted up to accentuate how close Reid was to being expelled were pinched together, "Caleb is shitting his pants worrying about what you're planning, and Tyler isn't saying a word."_

_"I'm not planning anything." Reid says in a deadpan voice._

_"I don't believe you."_

_"I know."_

_"Just... Is this about your birthday?"_

_"Don't try and psychoanalyze my shit."_

_"I'm not. Don't forget we're your brothers, though. We're here for you, whether you like it or not."_

_"Yeah, I know." Reid gives an annoyed shrug._

_"Don't fuck shit up too badly, okay?"_

_"When have I ever?"_

_Pogue sighed, giving up and leaving Reid to plan on his own._

* * *

"You're not happy." Reid deducted as Jennifer sat quietly on her rustic wooden chair underneath the warm ambient lighting of the restaurant Reid decided on. It wasn't easy, but he picked a place where Jen couldn't complain about anything. The food was kickass, the servers were friendly but not pushy, the aesthetics were something that all the pretentious foodies on the internet rave about... And yet she still wouldn't crack a smile.

She paused in her picking at a sundried tomato and tilted her head to the side to stare at him, "How would you know?"

"That vacant stare, for one. And I can read your mind."

"Are you joking?" She wasn't sure at this point.

"Yes." He rolled his eyes, "I can't really read minds. Really, babe, you have unrealistic expectations of me. I have to sacrifice a goat to my Gods before I can read your mind."

She took a long sip out of the martini Reid's money and influence got her.

"I was joking. Again. I don't sacrifice anything and the only God I have is my bloodline."

"You said _bloodline._"

"That's what you're fixating on? Really?"

"Maybe I'm fixating on the fact that you threw yourself off a building and are still alive and kicking." Her words came out as a sharp hiss in her attempt to keep her voice a whisper.

"So did _you_."

"Thanks to _you._"

"Are you still bitter that I didn't let you off it?" His voice was too loud for her liking and she sent him a glare.

"Of course I am!" She says through her mouthful of spinach, "And don't you think this is inappropriate table talk?"

"When are we supposed to be appropriate? Stop distracting yourself and answer me."

"I don't have to explain myself." Again.

"No, see, I think you do. Cause you got your sweetheart, right? The do-gooder, baby boy. And you got yourself the besties, one to gossip and do your girlie shit with, the other to talk about your emotions and crap, the most popular fucking boys in school are at your beck and call, you're at the best school money can by, and you're eating at a five yelp-star restaurant right now that you're not even going to pay for. Why are you still sad?"

"That's kind of a stupid question."

"What, do we need you to get popped up on pills to be happy? I got some special k in my pocket right now."

"Why are you being so insistent? And you don't really have drugs in your pocket, do you?"

"Why are you still sad? What the fuck else do you want?"

"Why is it any of your business?"

Reid slams his fork on the table and Jen jumps.

"Let's look at this differently." His tone changes and becomes more somber and quiet.

"How?"

"Let's say you manage to kill yourself, and it's gonna be a long fucking time before you manage to get one past me, and you're dead. What do you think will happen?"

"What?"

"When you off it. What'll happen?"

"I'll be dead, I guess." She starts itching her wrist nervously and looks away.

Reid scoffs.

"Wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll bring you back. And not the pretty kind. The kind where you can't talk, and you're fucking ugly and drooping and ghoulish and you'll rot until your eyes look like they're about to fall out of their sockets. And you'll never be able to rest, cause you'll be haunting all the bitches I tell you to. Rotting creeper style."

"So living hell, or dying hell?"

"Semantics. And you're not going to look nearly as pretty dead."

She puts down her fork.

"I lost my appetite."

"Me too."

* * *

"This isn't the way back to school." Jen points out as they get off the highway three stops too early.

"I know. We're making a scenic stop."

"No we're not. We had dinner, dinner is over, now we're going back to school."

"Declaring it won't make it a fact, babe."

"I'm not your babe."

"Right, you're baby boy's babe. I almost forgot, as if you weren't reminding me every other fucking five minutes."

"Cause you seem to forget every other five minutes!"

He floors it and she screams. He makes a sharp turn and they spin for a few seconds that seem to go in slow motion until they come to a screeching halt inches from a redwood.

"You... Dick!" She punches him in the arm as hard as she can.

"The biggest." He smirks and gets out of the car.

"Where the hell are we?" She opens the door and makes sure to slam it harshly, "Take me the fuck back right now!"

"Why the hell would I do that?" He started walking out towards something that might've been a house once upon a time. All Jen saw was burnt wood.

"Why are we here?" This was when he was going to sacrifice her to his Gods. She was fucked, "Do you really hate me that much?"

"After all this fucking time, and you think I _hate _you?"

"Well, why am I here?"

"This is where the first of us ascended."

"Ascended?"

He ignored her.

"Well, not the first first, but like the first of us brothers. Caleb. This dickwad, Chase, was going around murdering bitches and trying to take our powers. He was an estranged brother. Kidnapped Sarah and hospitalized Kate. And almost Pogue. I guess he was the first to ascend, but, well, dicks don't count.

"He and Caleb fought here. Caleb ascended, shit burned down, and he saved the day. Like a black magic Superman."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Because we're the _good guys,_" He gripped her arms and brought her close. She flinched and he shook his head, "Chase was evil. He killed his parents, his adoptive parents, and everything else that was convenient. I play pranks. Sometimes. But I'm nothing like him. We're not all self-sacrificing martyrs like Caleb, but we're all good. Practically. For you. I mean, I'm trying to fucking save you from whatever's inside of you that's making you hate yourself. I want to..." He groans and looks away in shame, "I want to be your Caleb!"

She stared at him, speechless.

A magnetic pulse emanated from Reid and winded Jen.

"Shit, is it time already?"

"Time? Time for what?"

"Took too much time word vomiting. It's time for my ascension."

Reid fell to his knees and gripped his chest.

"Garwin, are you okay?"

"Yeah, shit, I'm fine." He doubled over and groaned loudly.

"Is the ascension done with?"

"I don't think so. Shit, no, you'll know when it's over." He collapsed to the floor and started shaking, "Fuck, fuck, fuck,"

"Shit are you dying?" She put a hand on his arm and started rubbing circles in an effort to help.

"I don't.. Fuck, I don't know. Fuck. I guess I thought, since you hated the powers so much, they'd take it as kind of a sign, you know? That I'm going to be better."

"They?"

"My... Fuck... My bloodline. Shut up for a bit this hurts."

She nods, even though his eyes are clamped shut, and starts to remove her hand but his own clamps down on top of hers. He squeezes tightly and she's afraid he's going to break it.

Then lightning struck and everything went dark.


End file.
